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A Glimpse of Old Mexico 



BEING THE OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS OF A TENDERFOOT 

EDITOR WHILE ON A JOURNEY IN THE LAND 

OF MONTEZUMA 



BY 

JAS. H. WILKINS 



SAN RAFAEL, CAL- 
19OI 

(Copyright 1901 by Jas. H. Wilkins) 



THE LIBRARY OF 

COf^GSESS, 
Two Cot^iES Received 

JAN. «0 1902 

(,COPV«tOHT ENTRY 

CLASS fls^XXo. No. 

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--^ These letters were written, as they purport to be, during a two 
months' sta}^ in Mexico, with no other object in view than to fill a lit- 
tle space in a countr}^ newspaper. During my absence, however, the 
'^ ^ emplo5^es of m}^ printing office gathered together the series and pub- 
lished them in book form, not for sale, but mereh^ for complimentary 
<^' distribution among friends of the editor. Since then, there has been 
an inquirj' for the book that has encouraged me to strike off a 
tresh number. M.y first intention was to change the form entirely, but 
a little work soon satisfied me that it is as difficult to remodel an old 
stor}' as to reconstruct an old house. So the letters appear as they 
were originally printed, though here and there expanded and with 
some errors of statement corrected. 

The half-tone illustrations all represent actual Mexican life and 
scenery along the line of my travels and are from photographs taken 
en route. 

J. H. W. 
San Rafael, Cat.., 1901. 



A Glimpse of Old Mexico 



FIRST LETTER. 




T is easy to promise a lot of things in- 
volving 



a certain amount of work 
when you set off on a sea voyage that 
should contribute many vacant hours 
in which some mental occupation 
ought to be agreeable . Yet I have 
ever found the performance of such 
obligations an irksome duty and have 
always had ample cause to lament hav- 

ing entered into them. Last evening 

I stood on the deck of the good ship Colon and watched old Tam- 
alpais vanish in the gathering shadows. Those who have gone 
down to the sea in ships know how that notable landmark of the 
Golden Gate lingers in the vision after the rest of California's coast 
line is lost in the ocean's mist. Long after the sun went down, I 
could still distinguish it — a mere fluff outlined against the sky, 
which slowly passed from sight — and there was a last of it. That 
word "last" always makes me sad. It is pursuing us all the way 
through life, marking graves of hopes, ambition and friendships at 
every turn of the road. It is forever the last look, the last word, 
the last struggle against fate, the last day, the last hour as the 
journey draws to its close, and finally the last resting place. If 
that infernal word and all the consequences it carries with it could 
only be blotted from the vocabulary of man, what a bright, cheer- 



6 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MP:XICO 

fill thing human life would be. It is with us to stay, however, and 
naturally the last look at Tamalpais stirred up the usual sombre 
reflections in the editor's breast. But these were isucceeded by a 
still more profound depression when I remembered a rashly-made 
promise to employ the idle moments of this journey in writing 
about Mexico for my paper. For the truth is, I never felt less like 
work in my whole career. Life has not been exactly a bed of roses 
for me during the last few months but on the contrary has been 
crowded with incidents that leave their trace on body, mind and 
heart. Wearied with many sided cares, business, ojEflcial and poli- 
tical, the predominant desire of nature now is to spend the next 
few weeks in a loafing match, in a state of complete mental vac- 
uity, as well as of physical rest. So, for what follows, the usual 
allowance must be made, for a man seldom does well what he does 
not want to do at all. ' 

Anyhow, it is difficult to write about a foreign country in a way 
that will either interest or instruct the fairly well-informed reader, 
for the simple reason that the field has been gone over so often 
and diligently. In ancient times it was different. Then, if a fel- 
low chanced to stray a hundred miles from home, he was able to 
tell of marvels enough to cram a book. The story of Jason's 
prodigious voyage in quest of the golden fleece filled all antiquity 
with wonderment and the echoes of it are heard dimly to this day. 
Yet if he ever .steered his classic junk from Greece, it is certain 
that his voyage did not cover a much greater distance than from 
San Rafael to Alviso, at the head of the Bay of San Francisco. So, 
in the biblical stories that begin "and he girded up his loins and 
set out on a long journey,"from which momentous consequences 
follow, it merely meant that somebody went into the next town- 
ship; probably a trip that you or I would take nowaday and be 
home again for lunch. It is a well known fact, for instance, that 
the journey which occupied the Children of Israel for forty years 
could be traversed today by a railroad train in four hours, without 
crowding on steam. So, a person who now does the globe-trot- 
ting act does not have the chance he used to have, and unless he 
keeps his eyes mighty wide open, he might circle the planet and 
not find anything new to tell. 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 7 

But if I wanted to pick a field to write about, with a fair pros- 
pect of presenting something novel and fresh, I would unhesitat- 
ingly select Mexico for my subject. For, as far as my knowledge 
goes, this most interesting country has been given the overlook 
by the travel writers to an unusual degree, and the literature con- 
cerning it is singularly barren of anything really valuable. I have 
explored libraries diligently and have found nothing that con- 
veyed to me a fair idea of the country or its people as I have seen 
them. Most writters on the subject are bitterly hostile and un- 
just, unless we except certain descriptive publications issued un- 
der Mexican authority, which perhaps err the other way quite as 
much, which is equally wrong. For although I shall have many 
kind things to say about Mexico, it is a long way yet from being 
the whole thing. 

This spirit of unfriendly criticism on the part of most visitors 
to Mexico who have written about it is not perhaps so unnatural. 
It proceeds, in the first place, from fixed habits of thought more 
or less common to all of us. We become accustomed to 
certain usages, conditions and methods, and by long observing 
them, and by practicing the same, are fully convinced that they 
represent the correct standards of civilization, and that nothing 
else does. Therefore, when we come in contact with a people who 
talk, think, act, dress and eat differently from ourselves, the first 
impression is that we have encountered an inferior race, who de- 
serve a kind of contemptuous pity for their benighted condition. 
It is a notorous fact that there is not a nation today that does not 
hold all manner of foreigners in the utmost disdain. Now, Mex- 
ico, to most comers, is like a new world. To the American, 
EngHshman, Frenchman or German, it presents points of diver- 
gence at every turn, and even those of the Iberian race do not feel 
any too much at home there. It is not very astonishing, therefore, 
that the average observer, who does not go very far below the 
surface, has concluded without further evidence that here was a 
people hopelessly and irremediably in the wrong. 

Besides that, it was not so very long ago that Mexico had justly 
the very worst reputation among the nations of the earth, and it 
takes a country quite as long to live down a bad name as an indi- 



8 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

vidual — perhaps longer. Less than twenty years ago, neither Hfe 
nor property were safe there. Its government was weak and im- 
potent, changing with every fickle gust of popular feeling, and its 
official life honeycombed with rottenness and corruption. Its 
national finances were ruined and its credit so wrecked abroad 
that it would not have been trusted for a two-bit meal in any 
money center. It was overrun by bandits and armed bodies of 
freebooters, who looted practically at will, until the whole open 
country was depopulated and almost every industry suspended, 
save in the immediate vicinity of the largest towns. Capital would 
not invest there, no matter what the inducement, and what little 
remained in the countr}^ was doing its best to get out at any sacri- 
fice. In short, if there was a land on earth that seemed to be 
going to the devil across lots, beyond the possibility of redemp- 
tion, Mexico was certainly that one. 

It is hard for many persons to believe that this so recently dis- 
tracted and discredited country has, within a space of about a de- 
cade and a half, undergone a regeneration that has reached to 
every department of affairs. That it is now peaceful, orderly and 
admirably governed. That crimes of violence there are practi- 
cally unknown and the security of life and property are as perfect 
in Mexico as in any country in the world. That its national credit 
is now restored, its bonds eagerly sought and its finances on a 
stable footing. That its industries are springing into existence 
again, instinct with a new hope, and that syndicates of foreign 
capitalists are hurriedly sending their agents over the land in 
search of favorable investments. I am free to confess that I went 
to Mexico brimfuU of the old-time predjudices, expecting to find 
a people hopelessly backward and a government under which 
one's rights had to be maintained pretty much by force of arms. I 
was in the frame of mind of a juryman who enters into the trial 
of a case with a "fixed opinion," and if I was forced to alter it later 
on, it was because the evidence on the other side was conclusive 
and overwhelming. 

But. referring to the former conditions of Mexico, it had travel- 
ed so far in the wrong direction, was so profoundly demoralized 
financially, politically and socially that, if left to itself, it would 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 9 

probably have continued to go from bad to worse indefinitely. The 
situation had become so acute that the people, however much they 
might desire a change, were powerless to carry their wishes into 
execution. The conditions demanded the genius of one man with 
statesmanlike qualities of the highest order, with a will as stern 
and inflexible as fate, and a resolute courage that never stopped 
to calculate dangers when once his mind was made up. Fortun- 
ately for Mexico, such a man came to the front in the person of 
President Porfirio Diaz. If I were asked to name the greatest 
statesman of all lands that the present generation has produced, 
I should find no difficulty in placing this distinguished gentle- 
man's name at the head of the list. Measured by what he has ac- 
complished for his country, which should be the supreme test, he 
easily leads them all. He found Mexico stricken and prostrate, 
hurrying to utter anarchy and barbarism, a by-word of reproach 
throughtout the civilized world. He has restored it to order, made 
it respected abroad, given wealth and happiness to its people, and 
started it on a career of progress, the future of which is limitless. 
AVhat other man is there today in public station who, in his de- 
clining years, can look back on a life work of such splendid re- 
sults ? 

At Sea on Board S. S. Colon, March, 1901. 



mm 



SECOND LETTER. 




HEN Porfirio Diaz became 
President of Mexico something 
over twenty years ago, he was 
generally regarded as another of 
the executive figure-heads iset 
up to be knocked down. It was 
not long, however, before he fur- 
nished evidence that he differed 
in many respects from his pred- 
ecessors. His, first move was 
to strengthen on the central authority by remodeling 
the army. He officered it with those .devoted to himself and 
introduced modern regulations that changed it from little better 
than an undisciplined mob, as apt to fight on one side as another, 
to a fairly efficient and reliable body of troops. Then he organ- 
ized the rurales, a sort of mounted police on the Texas Ranger 
plan, all composed of picked men, of tried courage, sure shots and 
hard riders, who have developed itito one of the most capable and 
trustworthy constabularies to be found in the world. With these 
adjuncts, his authority was fixed on a reasonably firm basis. Two 
or three revolutions started up and he promptly crushed them 
with a thoroughness and attention to detail that fairly took 
people's breath away. The ringleaders were shot or banished and 
after that, getting up a revolution was regarded as something 
more serious than organizing a picnic party. 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 11 

Then the President turned his attention to another matter. 
Mexico had long been cursed with a class of professional agitators 
who never could rest easy under any form of government, who 
were eternally stirring up internal strife and discord and who were 
the only ones who profited by it. These were, as a rule, ex-gen- 
erals under the old regime, soldiers of fortune and others who for 
various rea^sons exercised considerable influence over large bodies 
of the common people. Diaz justly determined that there was no 
lasting peace for Mexico as long as these gentry remained in it, 
and with him to determine was to act. He accomplished his pur- 
pose as gently as possible, but where those methods failed never 
hesitated to employ others. Some were deported outright, some 
took advantage of a strong hint and left voluntarily; as for those 
who elected to remain and brave the storm, some accident always 
befell them that brought their careers to a close. 

There is a story that I heard from one of the best known Ameri- 
cans in Mexico, that will bear repeating in this connection. Three 
generals of the unruly type, wearied of the humdrum life under 
the new dispensation, had determined to run the chances and 
start a revolution. They were busy on the plot, when Diaz was 
apprised of their plans. Instantly he wrote an autograph letter 
to each conspirator. They were identical in terms and ran to this 
effect: That the President had long observed the devotion of 

General to the welfare of Mexico. He had also observed 

with deep concern that his close attention to public affairs was 
undermining his health and he therefore suggested an indefinite 
vacation in Europe, where the Executive trusted his vigor might 
be restored. He further advised that he depart at once, as delays 
in such cases were dangerous. 

One General skipped over the frontier as fast as his legs would 
carry him. Another thought there might be some mistake about 
it and wrote to the President that he was profoundly touched by 
his allusion to the services he had rendered to Mexico ; that the 
letter, in fact, had caused him to shed tears, but as for his physical 
condition, he wished to inform His Excellency that it never was 
more rugged and robust and that he needed no holiday. Diaz 
answered briefly : "I am the sole judge of your health," on the 



12 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

receipt of which, the General became wise and followed his com- 
panion with dne diligence. As to the third, he chose to remain and 
see what came of it — and he saw. A short time after, while riding' 
over his plantation, he was set upon by masked men and shot to 
death. Whether they were bandits or private enemies, or secret em- 
issaries of the government, no one ever knew, nor was the inquiry 
very searching. But it is certain that the General troubled Mex- 
ico no more. Of course I do not vouch for the truthfulness of this 
story. I merely give it for what it is worth. However it may be, 
the revolution industry soon became regarded as so extra-hazard- 
ous that no one cared to embark in it. 

That being settled, President Diaz next turned his attention to 
the suppression of the bandits and freebooters who terrorized the 
open country and smaller towns. The individuals comprising the 
principal bands were well known and they were legally declared 
outlaws and detachments of troops and rurales were detailed to 
hunt them down and destroy them wherever found. This was 
something over fifteen years ago. At first the work proceeded 
slowly, for many of the poorer people in the smaller towns were 
in sympathy with the bandits, supplied them with food and ad- 
vised them of the movements of their pursuers. This condition 
of things was fatal to success on a large scale and the government 
finally decreed that any who, under any conditions, gave assist- 
ance to bandits, should themselves come under the outlaw cate- 
gory and be subject to summary execution. The rule was enforced 
with unflinching severity. Whenever it was known that robbers- 
had visited a village and been hospitably received, in a short time 
a column of troops also made a social call, found out as near as- 
possible who the sympathizers were and promptly lined them up 
and shot them. Thousands were executed in that way and there 
is little doubt that many innocent men lost their lives. It is a 
bloody story that you hear of those times, but all seems to agree 
that it was the only medicine to work a permanent and speedy 
cure. The facts speak for themselves. The fear of God was in- 
stilled into the hearts of the populace and all connections between 
the bandits and the outside world was broken up at once. Con- 
fined to their mountain fastnesses, the outlaws were given no rest 



. A GLlMt^SE OF OLD MEXICO 13 

or mercy. One by one, they were hunted down to their death and 
It IS many years ago .smce the last of them paid the penalty of his 
crimes. Today 1 should consider Mexico one of the safest coun- 
tries to travel through m untrequented regions on the North 
American continent, 'iliere are two good reasons for this : First, 
because nearly all the bad men have been killed oft'; secondly, be- 
cause the punishment is so unerring and terrible that to embark 
m the highv»/ayman's trade is equivalent to constructive suicide. 
i:^:or any offense of that character, there is no trial. If a man is 
guilty, they waste no turther time over his case and his promising 
career is nipped m the bud by a file of soldiers. 

Let me give a couple of illustrations showing the prompt oper- 
ation of justice, and the general security of the country : 

The last hold-up in the State of Sinaloa occurred about seven 
years ago. An Englishman and native attendant were traveling 
through the mountains, when they were set upon by robbers. The 
attendant was shot dead and the Englishman received a wound 
in the fleshy part of the leg, which little mishap, however, rather 
augmented than diminished his powers of speed, and he made good 
his escape. News of the outrage v^^as sent down by telephone to 
Culiacan, the capitol of Sinaloa, and the Governor of the State at 
once called up the Prefect of the district in which the crime took 
place, and briefly notified him that the ends of justice demanded 
that the offense should be punished within forty-eight hours. 
This was rather close figuring, but within the time mentioned, the 
Prefect reported to his Excellency that he had the honor to in- 
form him that the robbers had been captured with the evidences 
of guilt in their possession, and it gave him pleasure to add that 
he had at once shot them. 

Again, the town of San Dimas, in the State of Durango, is a 
center for several important mines. Every now and then, bullion 
trains are made up there for shipment to Mazatlan. The value of 
these, for the several companies concerned, is often enormous, 
reaching into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet these trains 
are sent down to the sea, through one of the wildest regions on 
earth, either unguarded entirely, or perhaps with a man with a pot 
metal gun in his pocket as a convoy. They are practically turned 



14 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

over to the peon muleteers, and no one dreams of the trains being 
molested. I do not wish to run down my own great btate ot Cal- 
ifornia, but such a thing could not be done there, it it were known 
there that a vast bullion train was coming down trom the moun- 
tains unguarded, some of our capitalists would be tormmg syndi- 
cates to hold it up. 

The pacification of the country being completed, the President 
next diverted his energy to other (questions of hardiy less import- 
ance. Previous to this time, there had been scarcely an attempt 
made to educate the masses and at least eighty-five per cent, of 
the population was absolutely illiterate. Mr. Diaz determined 
that education should be an exclusive governmental function, and 
should be compulsory m its nature, without which provision little 
could have been accomplished. This system was modeled largely 
after that of the United States, including normal schools for the 
training of teachers, and has proved a triumphant success. You 
find school houses dotted all through Mexico today, well supplied 
with modern text books and apparatus, crowded with attentive 
children, over whom dark-haired Minervas rule with the same 
dignity and grace with which our own blonde school marms have 
made us familiar. I think this wide-spread education of the 
masses is one of the most hopeful facts about Mexico today. And 
wh^^n we judge its common people as they have been and still are 
in the older generation, and criticise their poverty, ignorance and 
inclination never to do today what can be put off till tomorrow, 
just think in fairness what kind of a chance they have had in life 
until President Diaz came upon the scene. Remember that for 
four centuries they have been down-trodden, looted and perse- 
cuted till every spark of ambition and hope had been seared out 
of their souls. Remember that during all that weary period they 
have lived in a dense ignorance, into which no ray of light pene- 
trated, and that for them all the triumphs of civilization have been 
but a closed book. Remember this, and you ought to find less 
cause to wonder that the peon classes are apathetic and unpro- 
gressive. I am confident that the rising generation, the boys and 
girls now enjoying the advantages of education and the discipline 
of school, will be very different from the one that is passing off 
the scene. 

At Sea on Board the S. S. Colon, March, 1901, 



THIRD LETTER 




FTER President Diaz at length 
found himself in complete con- 
trol, and at the head of a well or- 
ganized and settled government, 
the largest task of his statesman- 
ship still remained to be accom- 
plished. For Mexico, notwith- 
standing its vast resources, was- 
desperately poor and entirely 
without those modern adjuncts 
of business and commerce that make progress on a large scale 
possible. The first step was to arrange the fiscal system along new 
lines. The old plan had been a merciless form of exaction from 
the poor, and prohibitive imposts on industry and enterprise, with 
an almost complete exemption of the favored classes. All this 
was transformed. I cannot give here a complete exposition of the 
fiscal system of the country, partly because space will not permit, 
and partly because my somewhat imperfect knowledge might 
lead me into mistatements. But, from all I can gather, it is 
founded on principles of justice and enlightened common sense, 
and admirably suited to promote the success of nascent industries. 
The main sources of revenue are tariff duties on foreign imports, 
internal revenue and stamp taxes and what amounts, in effect, to 
an income tax. As to the latter, it is laid this way : If a rancliero 



16 A GLi:NrPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

is engaged in cattle raising, he pa}"S no taxes on his herd as long 
as they remain on the range. But when he drives them to market 
and sells them, he pays the government a fixed percentage op the 
transaction, and the butcher who kills them and markets the meat 
also pays so much per carcass. This certainly had the effect of 
stimulating the business of cattle raising, for in the early stages, 
the owner is not crushed with taxes, and when the time does come 
to pay. the money is there to meet the demand. Similarly in 
mining. During development work, you pay the government 
onl}- a tax that is purely nominal. \Mien your mill begins to run, 
however, you pay a xevy modest royalty on the bullion produced 
— about one-fifth of what is demanded by the Canadian govern- 
ment from the Klondike miners — and if for any cause production 
ceases, taxation ceases also. I take the word of resident foreign- 
ers for it that the system, as a whole, is as wise and equitable as 
prevails in any civilized country. And it has yielded ample reve- 
nues as well. From being bankrupt nationally ^lexico has re- 
deemed herself, and its credit now stands high. Large surpluses 
have been devoted to public improvements. Among the most 
notable of these may be mentioned the constrtiction of a complete 
government telegraph system, reaching to every village of three 
or four hundred souls, and a telephone system extending to prin- 
cipal points under control of the several states. The service 
charges fixed by the government are absurdly low: yet they are, 
nevertheless, revenue producers. If anyone wants an object les- 
son, illustrating how the telegraph and telephone companies 
squeeze us in the L'nited States, all he needs is to compare their 
rates with those of ^Mexico. 

The country was too poor to enter upon the vast expense of 
constructing railways. The President, therefore entered into nego- 
tiations M-ith foreign capitalists, principally those of America and 
England, which resulted in the granting of many concessions, or 
franchises. Thousands of miles of railroad were constructed by 
the various companies, immense territories opened up and a cor- 
responding impulse give nto business. As I understand it, a com- 
mission of experts, appointed by the government, fixes a sched- 
ule of fares and freii:"hts. subject to modification as conditions 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 17 

change, which is incorporated in the concession and must be ac- 
cepted by those seeking to do business. The rates allow a reason- 
able return on capital invested, and no more, yet that does not 
seem to have discouraged railway constructing. Among other 
things, every company is required to attach second and third 
class coaches to their trains, on which the fares are extremely low. 
The Diaz government has also held out many important in- 
ducements to encourage foreign capital and skill to engage in 
manufacturing industries, as well as to inspire native ambition 
in that line. In this, the demonetization of silver by nearly all 
important countries has contributed an enormous impulse. Mex- 
ico, a silver country, found the rate of exchange so greatly against 
it abroad that it could no longer afford to purchase extensively in 
foreign markets. It formed a barrier stronger than any tariff 
wall, and the question was simply for the people to manufacture 
for themselves, or go without. This stern necessity, stimulated 
further by the influx of foreign capital and mechanical skill from 
without, has worked wonders. This country, that a few years 
ago relied almost entirely on the external world for everything it 
used outside of raw materials, is now very nearly commercially in- 
dependent and is striding ahead rapidly as the necessity to supply 
its own wants stimulates demand. It has modern plants to turn 
out all classes of textiles — such as cotton, woolen and silk goods 
— great foundries that are skillfully managed and furnish an ex- 
cellent product, boot and shoe factories, breweries, machine 
shops, flour mills, and I don't know what not. There are verv few 
manufacturing industries, in short, that are prosecuted in the 
United States extensively that are not carried on, to some extent 
in ]\Iexico. The profits are said to be very large, which is easily 
credible, considering the cheapness of labor and the important in- 
ducements which the government holds out. Foreign enterprise 
and capital first exploited this field, but native Mexicans are now 
turning their attention to it. The country is generally prosper- 
ous, wealth is accumulating fast, and it is a kind of wealth that 
stays at home. Xo one will take it abroad for investment or 
travel, for it shrinks by half as soon as it crosses the border. 
Therefore, the holders of it are eagerly seeking new avenues for 



18 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

putting it to useful account, and generally find the most certain 
returns in some of the constantly expanding enterprises of manu- 
facture. 

The greatest need of Mexico today is a general system of roads 
and highways. These are now wretchedly inadequate. I have 
seen no good roads in the country, and even the miserable tracks 
laid out here and there are few and far between. Practically the 
entire internal commerce, away from the railroad lines is carried 
on by mule and burro pack trains, a most imperfect, expensive 
and vexatious substitute for teaming. The productive powers of 
the country can never be fully developed until this condition of 
things is changed. I understand that it is the ambition of Presi- 
dent Diaz to close the record of his great career by making at 
least a start in this direction, and that there are now under con- 
sideration plans for constructing- several great public highways, 
to constitute the main arteries from which the lesser ones will radi- 
ate. When this is accomplished, and the miseries of mule transpor- 
tation become a thing of the past, Mexico will assuredly strike 
ahead at a pace that will astonish the world. 

1 am nearly through with this end of the subject, but one thing 
more should be said, in fairness. There is still a general impres- 
sion abroad that the lesser Mexican officials are hopelessly cor- 
rupt, and that in order to get along at all, one must submit to an 
interminable system of blackmail. Setting aside my own per- 
sonal experience to the contrary, here again I submit the univer- 
sal testimony of foreigners I have met, that this is not so. The very 
nature of the appointment of these officials makes such a state of 
affairs impossible. All the district and municipal officials hold 
their commissions from the Governors of the States, and at their 
pleasure. They are selected with care, and are held strictly ac- 
countable to the Executive for their acts, and an appeal always 
lies to him. Under these circumstances, wholesale crookedness 
could hardly exist. It could not fail of detection, and summary 
removal immediately follows that. And removal from office is the 
crowning disgrace that can befall a Mexican. He is branded 
thenceforth as " a man without shame," and the poorest of his 
countrymen avoids him. 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 19 

I have endeavored, in an off-hand way, to show how Mexico 
has passed from old to new ; how a moribund nation, through the 
genius of a single man, has risen from the very throes of death 
and taken its place, with a fresh lease of life, by the side of its 
vigorous fellows. The status of its government today is anoma- 
lous. We speak of the Republic of Mexico, but it is a misuse of 
terms, for it is nothing of the kind, though all the forms remain 
and the essentials of liberty. The government represents, in fact, 
the supreme will of an enlightened statesman, who has only the 
welfare of his country at heart. He runs the whole machine, se- 
lects governors, judges and legislatures, and whatever he says 
goes. They have elections still, but the way they are conducted 
is enough to make a cat laugh. They arrange weeks beforehand 
just what vote a candidate is to receive in each precinct, and can 
figure out for you the final result to a nicety. Mr. Richard Croker 
is the merest novice alongside of these Mexican experts. This 
seems monstrous, but it works well, is generally accepted, and 
what more can one ask? The explanation given is that the peo- 
ple are not ready for complete self-government, that with three- 
fourths of the electors illiterate and ignorant, it would be to in- 
vite destruction to place the destiny of government completely 
in their hands. But it is also claimed that their rights are only 
withheld for the present, and that when, with education and prog- 
ress, thev develop to the proper intellectual and moral standard 
of citizenship, they will be accorded the full powers guaranteed by 
the Mexican constitution. 

Will the government survive the death of Diaz? That is a 
question often asked. Some believe that the structure reared by 
his genius will fall asunder when his strong hand is no longer at 
the helm. I think otherwise. Mexicans, of all classes, have too 
sharp a recollection of former miseries to ever court a like experi- 
ence, and will gladly concede to the successor of Diaz the same 
general powers that the great President has so wisely exercised. 
It is said that this successor has already been selected and has been 
trained for future honors for manv vears. 



20 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

Our voyage from San Francisco .southward has been barren of 
startling incidents, nothing noteworthy save the sharp change in 
cHmatic conditions. When one sails southward from the Golden 
Gate, it is natural to expect summer skies and balmy breezes all 
the way down the coast, but they do not materialize at the out- 
set. On the contrary, the farther south you go the chillier is the 
"\veather and the more dismal the everlasting fog. But just as you 
begin to think that some mistake has been made and that you are 
certainly approaching the polar regions, one morning you come 
on deck to find the sun shining with dazzling brightness, the air 
warm and generous and everything lovely. Then the luxury of 
the trip begins. The days are fine enough for anyone but the 
nights are so gorgeous that it seems a sin to go to bed. At such 
a time, to stretch yourself on an easy steamer chair and look out 
on the phosphorescent sea while the breeze, soft as the touch of 
a mother's hand, sobs through your whiskers, is as near heaven 
as I ever expect to get in this world of imperfect joys. Like most 
of those who have begun to descend the hill of life, my habits of 
thought are changing. I look backward rather than ahead. I 
prefer to remember rather than to anticipate. And more than 
once, under the humanizing influence of a square meal and a 
bunch of good cigars, I have whiled away the night, recalling by- 
gone days, listening to the sound of voices that long ago were 
hushed forever and hearing the music of songs that will never be 
sung again, till the first faint streak of dawn glimmered beyond 
the headland of Mexico. 

The glory of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company has de- 
parted. Time was when this line transacted by far the largest 
passenger business in the world, when every ship was loaded down 
to the guards and it was necessary to engage passage a couple 
of months ahead. There is plenty of room, now, however, for 
anyone who wants to travel this way. There are barely seven of 
us on this big ship and the steamer before carried just one lone- 
some passenger. Thus has the competition of transcontinental 
roads destroyed this once enormous business. But, if few in num- 
ber, we make up for it in being very select. In the list is an 
elderly gentleman whose name, Prof. , is famous the world 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 21 

over as a metallurgist, mining expert and scientist, a surgeon in 
the United States Navy on the way to join his ship at Acapulco, 
a ver}^ companionable gentleman like most of his profession, a 
lady who cut a conspicuous figiu'e in society in the days that are 
gone, and a rather talented, though highly erratic Englishman 
accompanied In^ his wife, my nephew and myself completing the 
seven. 

The smoking room has been the common rallying place for the 
men. The Englishman was perpetuall}^ endeavoring to get the 
Professor into an argument, to which the latter was not averse. 
The Briton as a rule advanced the most astounding theories that 
one ever heard of> and the Professor with his clean-cut reasoning, 
tumbled ther'- over in great shape, but his antagonist was not a 
man to be easily silenced. He had read extensively, had the term- 
inology of science at his finger's end and when cornered, had a 
most ingenious faculty for wriggling out of logical dilemmas, to 
the evident irritation of the other. One day the two had been at 
it hammer and tongs, the Englishman contending that it was per- 
fectly feasible to make gold out of any old thing. The air was 
thick with molecular attraction, atomic forces and the like, the 
debate ending with considerable warmth on both sides and we 
walked out on the deck to cool off. A seagull swept by with out- 
stretched, motionless wings, passing the ship on its onward course 
as though it had been standing still. " Look at that bird," said 
the Englishman, " speeding along at the rate of forty or fifty 
miles an hour without any effort that the eye can detect. It 
seems to me that common sense should teach us that the accepted 
mechanical explanation of flight is utterly erroneous. My own 
theory is that in the anatomy of birds there resides a subtle 
electrical or rather magneto-electrical force and that " 

Here the old professor doubled up as if some one had smote 
him in the solar plexus. " Excuse me, gentlemen," he said. " I 
am not feeling well," and staggered off to his quarters. His 
voice was not heard again in our smoking room debates. 

We are off' Cape St. Lucas this afternoon. Tomorrow I will 
ascend with dignity to the hurricane deck of a mule and strike 
out for the tall mountains, from which a stream of gold and silver 



22 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

has flowed for centuries to the sea. You will hear from me anon. 
I will try to tell you something about mining and agriculture in 
Mexico, about the people and their customs and such wayside 
gossip as the journey may suggest. Adios, amigos. 



wm 



FOURTH LETTER. 




E arrived at San Dimas last night 
and are now resting beneath the 
ever hospitable roof of Don 
Daniel Burns. Here, in the 
throbbing heart of his great in- 
dustries, amid flying wheels and 
the sound of grinding rock, the 
noted Californian has made an 
American home, presided over 
by that kindest and best of la- 
dies, his wife. Here, day b}^ day, with his wonderful genius for 
organization, he handles the details 'of an immense and compli- 
cated business with as much ease as you or I manage a dollar 
transaction. 

Some time ago, I took the same journey from the sea to San 
Dimas, and if the truth must be told, it very nearly saw my finish. 
I had not then bestridden a horse, to say nothing about a mule, 
for thirteen or fourteen years, and the sudden experience of rid- 
ing some forty miles a day over a rough mountain trail was al- 
most too much for flesh and blood. Every nerve, muscle and 
fibre throbbed like a jumping toothache, and the highest descrip- 
tive talent the world has seen could not have conveyed even an 
idea of my misery. I faced the ordeal of a second trip with no or- 
dinary trepidation, but T have gone through it without any diffi- 



24 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



culty beyond the purely trifling inconveniences of roughing it, 
and reached San Dimas as fresh as a daisy. The same is true of 
my nephew, Harry Wilkins. But there was one member of our 
little party who fared otherwise. My nephew, against my earnest 
protest, brought with him a setter dog called Dewey, well known 
in San Rafael. Dewey's trials were many and various. On the 
voyage to Mazatlin, he was seasick, homesick and sick otherwise, 
and testified his disapproval of the proceedings by doleful lamen- 
tation, to the unmeasured discomfort of the steerage passengers. 




Col. D. M. Burns. The Most Successful American Miner of Mexico. 

His first exploit on the trail was an attempt to jump a cactus 
fence, from which he emerged with more stickers in his hide than 
a porcupine. The new forms of animal life, also, nearly made him 
idiotic. He tried ever so hard to get down to business, flushed 
an iguana, an interesting lizard about six feet long and doubtless 
would have come to a stand at a caiman or alligator, if one had 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 25 

happened along. Then he become footsore and traveled most of 
the time on three legs, holding one in reserve for emergencies. 
He wilted under the severe heat till he had not energy enough left 
to raise his tail, and if it had not been for numerous water holes 
along the trail, caused by recent rains, his bones would now be 
adorning the landscape of Mexico. But that was not all. Every 
house along the trail and every pack train swarmed with native 
dogs. These are the most wretched looking and odious curs that 
the eye of man ever rested on. If you were to compare them in 
appearance to a coyote, the coyote could -justly accuse you of 
throwing mud. And their disposition is on a par with their looks. 
Naturally, they regarded the opportunity to chew up a dude setter 
as a kind of a windfall never to be overlooked and attacked our 
poor quadruped in numbers at every turn of the trail. Now, Dewey 
in his far-awa}' home, showed none of the warlike characteristics 
of the great admiral. His ways were distinctively those of peace. 
But when he found himself assailed in a foreign land, without just 
cause, he defended the dignity and honor of the American dog 
with a spirit and gallantry that would have filled his illustrious 
namesake's heart with pride. Though beset by overwhelming 
odds, he proved victorious in many sanguinary battles, and soon, 
encouraged by uniform success, and further by discovering that 
there was not much fight in his opponents anyhow, he took to 
charging the enemy with the utmost abandon, without waiting 
for o^■ert acts. After that, his troubles with the curs were at an 
end. If Dewey ever returns to the United States, he will have lots 
to tell the gringo dogs about his travels in ^^lexico, and will doubt- 
less become a canine Sinbad the Sailor among them. 

Still, while we got through the long mule ride in excellent 
shape, nevertheless, this kind of traveling in ^Mexico is not the 
same, by any means, as touring in a limited train. I can give sev- 
eral valuable pieces of advice to any who ma}' follow in my foot- 
steps. In the first place, take a well-stocked grub box with you 
from the coast. The food supply is not abundant along the way 
and not always agreeable to an unseasoned palate. Take also a 
. shot gun. for the country abounds with small game of all descrip- 
tions; quail, doves, wild pigeons and a grouse called queche — a 



26 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



noble table bird. You can easily kill all the game you want with- 
out leaving the trail. Then, by all means, have one of the patent 
cots that fold up into a compass not much greater than a fishing 
pole. Insect life is rather numerous in Mexico, and if you sleep 
on the ground, you may have cause to lament it. We went one 
step furthur — we brought mattresses. This was a concession to 
the isolicitude of female members of the family, but I am wihing 
to testify that the idea is not half bad. But those mattresses cre- 
ated a sensation along the trail that has hardly subsided yet. Wise 
gringos usually have "cots in their travels hereabouts, but I am 




Mountains Around San Dimas. 

certain that no mattresses had ever penetrated those parts before. 
More than once they were on exhibition before large and appre- 
ciative audiences of muleteers and resident peons, who expressed 
their wonderment variously. One said "They must be very rich." 
Another old- sage and philosopher remarked, "If they go to sleep 
on those soft things they will never wake up," and so on down the 
line. 

Also, do not allow any weak prejudice to stand in the way of 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 27 

choosing- a mule as a saddle animal. A mule is not a thing of 
beauty, neither is its character loveable but you can rely on it to 
carry you safely over ticklish places in the mountains when a horse 
would be a mighty uncertain support. A mule never loses its 
presence of mind, never is disturbed at trifles and has no inclina- 
tion to be sensational under any circumstances. A horse in apt 
to shy at a moving leaf or take a mad plunge at the sight of a 
lizard' crossing the trail and is liable to do this when his indiscre- 
tion may drop you and him a matter of five hundred feet or there- 
abouts. Then a mule always knowis where he can go safely, and 
when his instinct tells him there is danger no human power can 
move him on. He simply plants his four good feet emphatically 
and nothing short of a convulsion of nature can budge him, 
whereas if you apply a whip and spur to a horse, you can force him 
to go anywhere, even to destruction itself. Mules have one little 
habit that keeps the tenderfoot's heart in a flutter until he under- 
stands and gets used to it. The trails are very narrow and the 
projecting burdens of the pack animals touch the steep hillsides 
and compel them to travel a few inches from the margin, which 
every now and then overlooks a yawning abyss. Now the mule is 
a great deductive reasoner and he seems to conclude that where 
others of his kind have gone, there he can go likewise and that the 
safest rule anyhow is to follow usage. So the saddle mule persists 
in traveling on the extreme outer edge of the trail, like his breth- 
ren of the pack train, and when you come to one of those dizzy 
precipices very common in the mountains, it makes you gasp for 
breath to look down. But it is a waste of time to attempt to make 
him hug the bank. You may jerk him in, but he promptly sidles 
out again, with head depressed and melancholy air, as if meditat- 
ing- suicide, for which he always has ample cause. It looks horrible 
but you are really just as safe as in your rocking chair at home 
and after a day or so it ceases to worry. 

Then, you must allow for the fact that a mule is a marvelous 
character reader and will ascertain your weaknesses in no time. It 
seemed to me as if all the mules in Mexico had me sized up right. 
They understood perfectly that I had a chicken hearted disposi- 
tion and didn't have the nerve to punch holes in their hides with 



28 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



the cruel spurs that I wore, and therefore that they could loaf 
along with me pretty much as they pleased. In consequence I 
always used to be four or five miles behind the last man in the pro- 
cession and considered myself lucky if I got into camp at all. But 
one day I happened to be a little short tempered and my mule 
more than commonly preverse and with a sudden impulse I drove 
an inch of steel into both sides of him, supplementing the same 
with half a dozen wallops with a small sized cat-o-nine-tails I 
carried. A dispensation from above could not have worked a 
greater change. There wasn't a more ambitious animal than mine 




San Dimas Creek and Glimpse of San Dimas. 

on the trail that day and for fear the tonic would wear out. I re- 
peated the dose the next morning. I have got along with mules 
very well ever since. 

It seems a little uncanny, at first, to have dusky shadows, 
swathed in red scrapes, fiitting noiselessy around your camp as the 
night falls, but a little experience soon reassures. These people are 
absolutely harmless, and such a thing as petty theft is almost un- 
known, especially so far as the foreigners are concerned. After 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 29 

■considerable inquiry, I can hear of no instance of camp being 
robbed while its owner slept. This is the more surprising and 
■commendable, because the plunder of a well-equipped outfit 
would represent incalculable wealth. And I want to add this — 
that so far as my experience of mankind goes, you can find more 
absolute happiness among the peon classes of Mexico than among 
any other people on the earth. There is no such thing as true 
happiness in America, for no matter how much you have, you al- 
Avays want something more. There, it is an endless chain of dis- 
appointed hopes, ambitions unfilled, of heart-burnings and jeal- 
ousies, and the sundering of friendship because of them. You 
may enjoy any amount of decent prosperity, but there is always 
that infernal fellow ahead who wears better clothes, has more 
money, owns a later style of automible, succeeds better in politics, 
or moves in a higher social circle, on whom your ever-restless eyes 
are fixed. But the peons are all on the same plane, know only the 
one life, and it suits them. Beyond its circumscribed boundaries, 
they have no ambition. They perform their day's work — and here 
in the mountains it is an honest one — and expect from it only a 
livelihood. Apart firom that, they love to gossip and are passion- 
ately fond of music and dancing. \\''ith these amusements, access- 
ible to all, the leisure hours are never irksome, and they ask no 
more. Among them, too, you find the epicurean philosophy in 
all its purit3^ They live absolutely for the present, make the most 
of the fairweather end of existence and let the future take care of 
itself. If you want to make a peon mad through and through, 
you can pursue no better course than to exhort him to save his 
wages. He thinks you are covertly trying to induce him to com- 
mit a crime against his family and himself. "No, senor,"he will 
reply, "if I have money, I will put food in my stomach and clothes 
on my back. I am here today, but tomorrow I do not know where 
I will be While I live. I will have the best I can buy." And I am 
not so very sure that there is not as much wisdom in the peon's 
philosophy as may be found in the lives of thousands of Ameri- 
cans, who deliberately deprive themselves and families of every 
comfort and human enjoyment in order to pile up fortunes that 
thev must ultimately leave behind to mock them as the grav<» 
closes over their endeavors. 



30 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



San Dimas is a brisk little mining town of the old Spanish type, 
built on the spur of the mountain on which the great Candaleria 
Mine is located. Its day of glory was doubtless about one hun- 
dred and fifty years ago when the principal veins were first 




Old Well of Hacienda Balurte. 

opened and the ^■ast ruins of ancient works show the magnitude 
of the operations. The old Spaniards builded not for a day but for 
centuries and time deals gently with their monuments, even 
though human care and labor were withdrawn long ago. Their 
aqueducts in this district are still in perfect preservation. The 
walls of the principals buildings stand intact and will continue to 
do so for many a year to come, though the tile roofs have fallen. 
The great Hacienda Baluarte, in particular, is a magnificent spec- 
imen of masonry and as you .stand within its court, in the shade of 
mighty orange trees, a century and a half old, you can almost re^ 
construct in fancy the ancient times. They had some forgotten 
formula for preparing lime for building purposes, for it hardens 
with age till it becomes infinitely more resistent than the masonry 
it binds. Twenty years ago San Dimas was on its last legs. Its 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



31 



mining industry seemed exhausted and the scant population was 
preparing for a clean up and departure when Col. Burns, needy 
and unknown, but full of the enterprise that tells, appeared upon 
the scene. His genius or luck, whichever you choose to call it, 
brought the Candelaria again to the front, likewise the Contra 
Estaca and El Pilar which had been forgotten for a century. Then 
other capitalists followed in his footsteps, opened up promising 
properties and now the outlook is that San Dimas will soon be- 
come perhaps the most important mining camp in Mexico. 

The town is in the heart of a rugged mountain range, with 
many impressive peaks in the neighborhood, though the land- 
scape has a stern aspect from being sparsely timbered. It is just 
outside the great coniferous timber belt of the Sierra Madre,. 



i..^,««4AJI« , ■, 




w^«^^. ^^^ 



Col. Burns" Favorite Corner, where he Overlooks and Directs an Im- 
mense Industry. 



which begins onlv four or five miles to the eastward. 



i\2 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

When I commenced to write this letter today, it was my inten- 
tion to devote it to a brief description of the great mining industry 
■of Mexico. But I rambled on from one subject to another until 
I had about reached the limit that the acting Editor would stand, 
and to give even the merest outline of the mining industry here 
will require at least one letter by itself. But, if not that at present, 
I can at least relate something of a mining man, famous in the two 
republics, that will be of interest to many people in California, 
The presence of Col. D. M. Burns in San Francisco had been 
eagerly sought for two weeks before I left, to adjust matters of 
momentous consequence. Telegrams of wild entreaty were sent 
by the political chieftains of California to San Dimas, but still the 
Colonel came not, and many were the .surmises as to the reasons 
therefor. The last rumor I heard had it that he was sick unto 
death and could not be moved. Well, the gentleman was never 
better in his life, nor in finer spirits. The old Candelaria mine, 
which he loves better than politics, or horse racing, or senator- 
ships, is again on the boom and is turning out ore from several 
new developements that would make your heart sick to think you 
did not own it. If the mine was in CaHfornia, the daily papers 
would be publishing columns about this marvelous strike, and 
liundred of miners would be prospecting the country for miles 
.around. But here in Mexico, such things pass for nothing. They 
merely say, "Yes, the Colonel is very fortunate," and so dismiss 
the incident. But the grading is going on for a new forty-stamp 
mill, and when it begins to run, the output of the Candeleria will 
astonish the world. That's why Colonel Burns is here, and reso- 
lutely persists in letting the other fellows walk the floor. He has 
liis business eye on probably the biggest thing that ever came his 
way during his eventful career. 

San Dimas, State of Durango, Mexico, March 12, 1901. 



F f F T H J. E T T E li 




ERHAPS a word here about the people 
of Mexico as I have observed them may 
be of interest. When I speak of the peo- 
ple, I do not refer to the high caste 
group of wealthy, educated and refined 
men and women. These you can find in 
e\'ery civilized country and they are 
very much the same the world over. 
But while they may influence, they are 
jOt the ones that make a loation. If you wish to examine the po- 
tential forces on v.hich the future of a race depends, you must get 
v\'ell doun among the masses and see of what stuff they are made. 
'J'hey supply the creative power, they make a community rich or 
poor, progressive or unprogressive, ambitious or sluggard. Car- 
negie, Rockefeller, V^anderbilt and Pierrepont ]\lorgan never 
. ould have amounted to a row of pins by themselves. They hi^ve 
piled up their hundreds of millions simply and solely becaus<i of 
the genius and splendid energy of the American people, whic'i 
they had the organizing ability to take advantage of. Amonir 
a race of loafers, tliey would have had to skirmish to make their 
daily bread. 

In the great mass of Mexican people, the Indian stock j; re- 
dominates. I should say that at least three-quarters of their an- 



34 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



cestry could be traced back to the aboriginal populations of the 
countr}^ But it must be remembered, in the first place, that the 
Mexican Indians were of a far higher type intellectually than ^^he 
nomads of the north, that they had a written language, had solved 
many astronomical problems, were expert builders, had a regu- 
larly organized government and in short, had traveled far on the 
road to a high civilization. How sturdy the stock was, is best il- 
lustrated by the fact that their descendants are here today. Fol- 
lowing the Spanish conquest, after the natives had been made duly 




• Scene in Humble Life, 
aware of the priceless blessings of Christianity, they were divided 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD ^lEXICO 35 

into "repartimientos/' or allotments, and assigned to the various 
conquerors who happened to have a pull. Then they were duly 
branded on the cheek to locate their ownership and became chat- 
tels of masters who exercised over them the absolute right of life 
or death. The greater number of them w^ere sent to work in the 
mines, the remainder being employed to raise corn for their food 
and to pack it into the mountains. The miners passed practically 
their whole lives in the damp underground workings, to prevent 
attempts to escape.1 have seen in an old mine the niches cut in the 
rock walls, where they slept. It was as rigorous a form of slavery 
as ever existed and in most parts of the Americas the native races 
crumbled under it to dust. Less than fifty years of the system 
practically exterminated the once teeming aboriginal population 
of the West Indies. After a hundred years, in Chile and Peru there 
remained not more than one-fifteenth of the estimated population 
at the time of the conquest. The Mexican slaves alone survived 
and when freedom came at length early in the present century, 
they were if anything more numerous than when Cortez and his 
followers landed in their country. So, physically, at least, they 
must have possessed the rugged type that goes with a survival of 
the fittest. 

Even when liberty was gi\-en them, it seemed as though they 
had gained nothing by the change. Under their Spanish masters, 
they had at least some protection from outside foes, just as any 
valuable chattel is guarded. During the stormy half century suc- 
ceeding [Mexican independence even this was withdrawn. In that 
distracted period, with revolutions occuring every few months and 
the country swarming with free-booters, outlaws and desperadoes, 
the helpless people suffered even more severely than in the days of 
bondage, for the population of Mexico decreased rapidly, the loss 
being estimated \'ariousl}' at from two to five millions. 

And in their contact with European civilization, the native 
races acquired nothing worthy of mention. Their Christianity is 
still little better than a superstition, founded, not on a belief in 
God's infinite love and mercy but on the dread of what He may do 
if He gets mad. Not the slightest effort was made to educate them 
and it is perfectly safe to say that twenty-fi^'e years ago not one in 



36 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



a thousand was able to read or write. In no sense was their con- 
dition improved. Cortez found the native races clad in cotton fab- 
rics and cotton is the dress of the lower orders to this day. They 
used the most primitive agricultural implements — a sharp stick to 
make holes in which seeds were deposited, a wooden spade and 
sometimes, a wooden plough — and these are still employed in 
many parts of Mexico, though in other sections modern appli- 
ances have replaced them. Even their food has been modified 
very slightly. The native beans, or frijolis, tortillas or baked 







Peons Shelling Corn. The Grain Falls through the Frame and the Wind 
Separates the Chaff. 

cakes of maize, chili peppers, tomatoes, together with indigenous 



A GLJ.MP.SE OF OLJ> MPIXfCO 37 

fruits, are the great staples they were four hundred years ago and 
are prepared for consumption the same way. In every well regu- 
lated peon household, you will find the Aztec metate or stone on 
which the corn is hand ground and the ancient pottery vessels in 
which their food is cooked. 

It is scarcely conceivable that the experience of four such cen- 
turies would fail to leave an evil impress on the national character 
of any people. For my part, the only wonder is that they did not 
revert to utter barbarism when finally left to themselves, just as 
many races ha\'e done after being long held down by the strong 
hand of physical restraint. It is not an agreeable task of enumer- 
ate the shortcomings of a people but as I am endea^'oring to pres- 
ent a perfectly impartial picture, this view of it cannot be over- 
looked. 

First and foremost. I should place among the ..eaknesses of 
the Mexican character an almost indescribable lack of an}'thing 
approaching thrift. I have briefly alluded to this in a presious 
letter. You will emplo}- your time better explaining to one of 
them the mathematical problems relating to the precession of the 
equinoxes than by endeavoring to make him htlitvt that am' good 
can conje from the practice of economy. Whatever they make 
goes as it comes, without a thought for the morrow or the e\'il day 
ahead, and when their money is gone, they never hesitate to pawn 
their little personal effects and the ^"ery clothes on their backs. If 
you wish to hire a man who has been out of employment for a few 
days, it is almost a certainty that you will ha'%'e to redeem his rai- 
ment in order to enable him to make an appearance in public. 
Their recklessness and necessities are preyed upon by a swarm of 
pawn brokers, about as conscienceless a crew of pirates as can be 
found the world over. \\'hen you find a genuine shark among a 
people given to free-handedness. the chances are that he will go 
the limit and something more. This is particularly true of the 
Mexican pawnbrokers, who are absolutely without pity or re- 
morse. I have watched their hard cruel, merciless faces as they 
worked some unhapp}- peon to a finish and it seemed to me that 
the toughest Isaacstein on Kearney street looked like an enlight- 
ened philanthropist by com.parison. In some of the large centers, 



38 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

the government has opened pawnshops of its own, great estab- 
lishments where money is loaned on any collateral on reasonable 
terms. But this system has not extended to Sinaloa or Durango 
and the way the poor people are pillaged there in the private pawn 
shops is one of the curses of the country. 

The unthinking spendthrift habit is without doubt a very 
grave national defect. Mexico never can be at her best until the 
masses begin to accumulate and have a more substantial stake in 
the country than they now possess. My impression is that it will 
take some time to work a cure, so profoundly has it taken root in 
the human soil, but that it will finally be overcome, I have no rea- 
sonable doubt for it does not seem to me an inherent vice, but 
rather the inevitable result of the conditions under which the 
people have lived for centuries. During the long period of slav- 
ery, no possible incentive for thrift existed and there was nothing 
for the poor devils to save anyhow, for they received from their 
masters only the most pressing" necessaries of life. Then again, 
after emancipation, for two generations or more, the distracted 
state of the country, would have discouraged saving ways, even if 
they had existed before. Every little town and farm house was 
pillaged by revolutionists or outlaws two or three times a year un- 
til it seemed the very part of wisdom to use anything valuable that 
came to one's hands in purchasing high priced food and fine rai- 
ment and promoting hilarity in general, rather than to hoard up 
the pesos until some fellow came along and took them away. 
T-lius the acquisitive instinct became rudimentary among the 
masses, naturally enough, and it is going to take time and pa- 
tience to develop it again. 

Another failing is their common indifference to financial obli- 
gations. I refer of course to the lower classes. The. Mexican mer- 
chants and business men, I have found quite up to the average 
moral standard. This weakness is to a large extent a supplement 
of the other. Being so everlastingly prodigal with their own 
money, it is not to be wondered at that they will be free with 
yours, if you give them a chance. They will run themselves head 
over heels in debt at every opportunity without the slightest 
thought of how it is going to be liquidated and precious little con- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



39 



cern for the same. They view such matters in the true philo- 
sophic spirit, never are annoyed by them and cannot see why any- 
one else should be. If a disposition is shown to becom^e disagree- 
able about it and perhaps demand that the debt be worked out, 
they gather their small belongings and go to some more congen- 
ial clime. It doesn't cost much to move in Mexico. Of course, 
they are the chief sufferers by this habit. The people are at the 





A Mexican Dilijrencia, or Stage Coach; Changing Mules. 



mercy of company stores and pinch-me-concerns where they re- 
ceive credit for exactly what is coming to them in wages and 



40 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

where the druggist's famiHar two per cent profit is invariably ex- 
acted. 

These, in my judgment, are the two glaring defects in the Mex- 
ican character and the hardest to be overcome. You will hear 
many other indictments against these people if you listen to cer- 
tain critics. They will tell you that they are instinctively idle, 
treacherous, immoral, untruthful, thievish and habitual drunkards. 
All that I can say is that my experience and observation do not 
bear out any such accusation. I have been right among them 
and found them exactly the reverse. Of course, there is the usual 
proportion of black sheep in evidence, but I am writing of the peo- 
ple as a whole. And that brings me to the pleasant part of this 
subject. 

In the first place, so far from being a lazy people, I consider 
Mexicans thoroughly industrious. Most writers who have taken 
the opposite view appear to have formed their opinion from ob- 
servations from a Pullman car window, which undoubtedly dis- 
closes a goodly number of shiftless looking loafers around every 
railroad station, or perhaps from a visit to one of the tropical coast 
towns, where you can generally find a considerable portion of the 
population snoozing the hours away in shady corners. But de- 
ductions from any such basis are most misleading and do a huge 
injustice to the great body of the people. To see them in their 
real, active life you must get out in the country where the earnest 
work is done. Follow a pack train for a day or two and mark the 
incessant labor of the drivers under a blistering sun to keep the 
line moving or head ofif some cantankerous animal that wants to 
fly the procession; go into the lumber camps and watch say a 
dozen of them pick up a stick of lumber that weighs more than 
a ton and pack it up hill and down over any kind of a trail, a feat 
that American 'laborers would shy at every time : then visit the 
mines and observe the steady swing of pick and sledge for twelve 
mortal hours, which is the regular day's work in Mexico ; finally 
go among their little farms and note the prodigious labor in- 
volved under their crude methods in planting a crop, harvesting 
the same and bringing it to market. If after doing this in a fair- 
minded way, you still declare the Mexicans a lazy race, I can only 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 41 

say that your idea of what constitutes industry is very different 
from mine. 

Xor is their industry a mere physical effort and unintelHgent. 
You can notice among them a distinct mechanical capacity and a 
good mechanic is a man to be admired. We have a plumber at 
our mine nick-named Abraham Lincoln, from a rather remote re- 
semblance he bears to the great commoner, who is as thorough 
a master of his trade and as resourceful in applying it as one could 
wish to see. He has had charge of the construction of several 
great pipe hne plants in this section and of the complicated con- 
nections with the mechanism of a silver mill and his work has al- 
ways remained as a monument to his skill. Very fair carpenters 
and masons are to be found in abundance. At mining, from hand- 
ling compressors and filling the sub-ordinate positions in a mill 
down to the purely manual part of the business, they are efficient 
and reliable. These qualities have had the slimmest possible 
chance to develop in the past but w'ith the revival of industry 
and the general education of the masses, there is good 
ground for the belief that marked progress will be made by the 
people of Mexico in the mechanical line before the century is 
much older. 

As to their treacherous w^ays, I have also failed to observe 
them ; quite the reverse. To the best of my judgment, they are a 
singularly open hearted and guileless race, almost like children 
in their simple hospitality and friendliness, if you treat them right. 
The real trouble is that quite a sprinkling of foreigners do the 
other thing. I am sorry to say that I have met some Americans 
in Mexico whose conduct has made me blush for my country. To 
say nothing about more serious ofTenses, their manner alone is 
too often of the kind to inspire hostility and a spirit of reprisal. 
They walk all over the poor people, bully them and show their 
contempt in a thousand ways and then wonder because they are 
not liked. Of course, such conduct is resented as it would be in 
any part of the inhabited globe and if an opportunity presents 
itself to play for even, it is seldom neglected. Then the cry is 
raised that ]^Iexicans are treacherous. But if you investigate to 
the bed-rock, I think you w'ill discover that in practically every 



42 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



case where a foreigner has got into trouble in Mexico, landed in 
jail or been run out of the country, the sufferer has been one of the 
fellows who have systematically outraged the feelings of the peo- 
ple beyond the possible limits of endurance. It is only fair to add 




Farm Mules. Corn Drying on Line Overhead. 

that these are the exceptions. Most Americans and most other 
foreigners here have the fundamental instincts of gentlemen and 
their relations with the natives of the country are perfectly ami- 
cable. 

Another count in the indictment is the loose relation of the 
sexes. There is foundation to the charge to this extent at least 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 43 

that ceremonial marriag-e among the peons is the exception, not 
the rule. Two marriages, if any. are usually performed the civil 
and ecclesiastical, and as both mean fees, the thrifty people usually 
prefer to celebrate their nuptials by having a good time, instead 
of squandering money on priests and magistrates. There are 
about forty families at our mine and in only two cases are the 
heads joined in lawful wedlock. The balance have simply elected to 
live together in the condition of husband and wife without further 
form tlian mutual consent. I know that some of my readers will 
cry out in horror at the statement and wish never to hear of a Mex- 
ican again. But. on the other hand this free and easy relation is 
maintained in a majority of instances, with a good deal of fidelity, 
as a rule to the close of life. Of course, if a gentleman becomes 
tired of his matrimonial lot, he is privileged to terminate it sum- 
marily, but our own conjugal bond does not hold very fast when 
either party wishes to sever it. They are kind and indulgent to 
their wives or "women, "delighting to load them down with fine 
raiment and Jim Crow^ jewelry, when luck comes their way, and 
are devotedly fond of children, which are propagated in swarms. 
If you view these conditions from a purely religious standpoint, 
they are terrible beyond expression. If you look at them as a plain 
philosopher, the picture of humble home life in Mexico is not an 
unpleasant one. 

As to being of a general larcenous disposition, I know otherwise 
from abundant personal experience. Of course, there are thieves, 
pickpockets and crooks of every grade among them but they are 
no more types of the race than are the jail birds of the United 
States representative of American manhood. I have been among 
the common Mexican people in all sorts of ways, under conditions 
admirably suited for light lingered operations and often with an 
array of luggage that must have looked like a boundless fortune 
to a Peon and never on one occasion have I had cause to lament 
the loss of the smallest article. For myself. I wish no better proof 
that they are trustworthy. They possess a lively imagination and 
the rich Spanish language, which deals largely in superlatives rather 
tends to habits of exaggeration. Everything is the biggest, the 
richest, the most beautiful and so on and vou must exercise con- 



44 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



siderable caution in assimilating what you hear. But it isn't a 
malignant kind of lying after all, very far different from those 
kinds of untruth that have made the vice odious the world over. 
It is rather a picturesque form of drawing the long bow that 
doesn't do anyone special mischief and does not necessarily pro- 




Verano. A Mexican Mountain Farm. 

ceed from a \'icious heart. As for intemperance, there seems to 
be a strange appetite for alcohol the world over and the Mexicans 
are not exempt from it. The majority of them go on occasional 
jamborees, but the chronic soak is a rareity and the vice very sel- 
dom goes to the extent of unfitting them for the business of mak- 
ing a living. I should say that they w^ere no better or worse than 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



45 



people in the same station of life in the United States. If anything 
the comparison would be in their favor. 

There is a class of Mexicans with whom the sojourner comes 
in close personal contact and from whom he can gather a very fair 
estimate of the general character of the people. These are the 
"mozos" a kind of equestrian valets of the Sancho Panza des- 
cription. Everyone who wishes to be considered somebody must 
of necessity have one of these attendants as he travels through the 




Verano. A Typical Mexican Farm House. 



country, or be rated forthwith as poor trash. Nor are they, by any 
means, mere ornamental figureheads. They are, in fact, as effi- 



46 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



cient servants as I ever met. They are on the lookout for their 
employer's comfort every minute. If your saddle girth needs 
tightening, their watchful eye always detects it. If your mule 
casts a shoe, they carry their little blacksmith's kit with them and 
have a new shoe on in a jif^y. They always find you the coolest 
place in the neighborhood for the noon siesta. If you are thirsty, 
they know it by intuition, scamper off and return in a few minutes 




""'eiano A Piiniitivc Sugar MjU Tlu; long arms a.i'e operated bj' raulo 
po^' ei tur'nns? tvo wooden cylind''-'rs in pit, revolving in contact 
with e ch other. \ ATexican feeds in sugar cane, stalk at a time, 
^^hich is ciushf-d borween cjlmders.- 

vith a tin cup filled with cold water from some spring that only 



A (JLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



47 



mozos know about. They are familiar witli tlie liest sto])]jinj^" 
places f(jr the nij^'lil U>v liiiiKlrcds of miles arouiuj aiul the sublime 
im]:)U{leiice with which they vvill take possessi(jn of a "casita" in 
your name, elbow the occu|)ants, order them to make way for the 
senor, get a move on and do it (|nick, is a sight worth seeing. Then 




"■i ho JJonwnfall of Laiio 
after your luggage has Ijeen cared for and su])per pre])ared, you 
can listen to a panegyric on your virtues sucli as you never heard 
before, when the mozo has time io engage in conversation with 
your hosts. I suppose the rogues indulge in these rhapsodies so 
as to shine tliemsclvcs in the reflected light. At all events, you 
will learn that you are wise, brave, rich, generous, of illustrious 
birth, related to McKinley and last but not least ''muy caballero" 
or very much a gentleman. If a ]jerson is profoundly enamoured 
of himself anrl loves to hear his |jraises chanted, I do not knenv of 



48 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

anything that will do him more good than to take a trip through 
Mexico with some of the mozos I have met. In addition, they are 
imperturbably good natured, no matter what happens and unless 
they are ill used become sincerely attached to their employers. I 
never parted from a mozo that he did not tell me that his heart was 
very heavy and one at least shed real salt tears when we reached 
our journey's end. Come to think of it though, there was one ex- 
ception and I will now proceed to relate the story of it, for it is 
pertinent to the subject of this letter. 

The relation between servant and employer in Mexico is stately 
and ceremonial and never relaxed for one moment. Thus, for in- 
stance, when you address a servant, you first call him by 
name, as "J^^^'^-" He answers "Senor," off comes his hat like a 
flash and he stands in an attentive attitude to receive your orders. 
Similarly, when you are out in the mountains, it is the mozo's duty 
to stand bareheaded at a respectful distance while you eat, attend 
to your wants, if you have any and never touch a morsel of food 
till you signify that you have finished. I had the necessity of en- 
forcing these rules and regulations properly impressed on my 
mind when I first visited Mexico and was warned that if a certain 
distance were not kept between employer and employed, the latter 
invariably became sociable and "fresh" be3^ond all indurance. I 
have noticed a similar tendency among other people. 

Well, it happened once that I had to ride across the Sierra 
Madre mountains from San Dimas to the City of Durango, 
through one of the wildest and most unfrequented sections of 
Mexico. A Mozo was picked out for me with due care,, a likely 
young fellow called Lario, with a splendid record for abihty in his 
line. We were soon far up in the mountain fastness and that feel- 
ing of mutual dependence began to assert itself that comes nat- 
urally enough to a couple of men when they have to make their 
way through difficulties, with the suggestion of possible danger 
thrown in. This is a mighty levelerof social distinctions at all tin"es. 
If my great and good friend, Edward the Seventh, were ship- 
wrecked on a desert island with one of his footmen, I doubt if 
rank, station and precedence would bother them very long, espe- 
cially if the footman were a bigger man than His Royal Highness. 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 49 

At all events, Lario's elaborate ceremony became almost gro- 
tesque under the circumstances and I yearned for a little good fel- 
lowship, so when we halted for the night and the camp fire 
blazed and the grub sizzled merrily in the frying pan, I told Lario 
to keep his sombrero on his blooming head, sit down to dinner 
with me and be sociable. And maybe he wasn't. We tossed off 
the regulation mescal cocktail, ate like a pair of cormorants, had 
a cup of black coffee, smoked cigarettes and sang Spanish love 
songs till our voices gave out. But what were the consequences ? 
In two days Lario became the most worthless vagabond that ever 
happened. True, he loved me like a brother and was willing to 
do anything in the world for his dear amigo Don Santiago, ex- 
cept work. It almost took a traction engine to get him out of his 
blankets in the morning. I had to make the fire, cook the break- 
fast and do most of the packing in order to get started at all. I 
threatened to rebuke him with a club if he failed to mend his ways 
and then there was ill will and sullenness which lasted till Dur- 
ango was reached, where we parted with mutual disesteem. If 
you ever visit Mexico, do not forget the incident. 

Nor did the wrong done Lario end here. He went back to his 
old haunts and resumed his occupation, but no one could toler- 
ate his changed ways. He was discharged by one after another. 
Presently he had to seek new employment and then his descent 
was awful. A year later I met him on the trail driving a pack train 
of burros. Xow, the drop from the station of a pampered mozo, 
usually employed by free handed Americans, to the abject posi- 
tion of a burro puncher, is a thing too terrible to describe ade- 
quately. The degradation of Dreyfus was trivial in comparison. 
Poor Lario gave me one sad look that recognized me as the au- 
thor of his ruin, then dropped his eyes and passed on. 

I have spoken of the preponderance of the Indian blood in the 
masses of [NIexico. But the Spanish strain has been a strong one, 
prepotent to transmit many of the admirable qualities of the 
Iberian race and modify the harsh lines of the aboriginal features. 
In fact anv infusion of foreign blood seems to take a powerful 
hold. Pure blond types are not so unusual and ver\- persistent, 
when the crop is once sown. Often, it is not difficult tr. trace them 



50 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

back to their source. For distance, long ago, a red-headed Irishman 
landed at Mazatlan, journeyed southward in the direction of San 
Bias, then turned ea/Stward toward Tepic and at length reached 
the City of Durango in this round-about way, after which he was 
lost track of. It was not a long journey — say a thousand miles 
at the utmost — but it took the Irish gentleman many years to 
complete it. He was of a jovial disposition, always ready to halt 
at any hacienda or pueblo where the cheer was good and the eyes 
of the girls bright and never in a hurry to move on as long as con- 
ditions remained agreeable. He left no great impression on the 
history of the nation but along his itinerary, a red-headed genera- 
tion of children sprang up which, singularly enough, marked his 
exact line of progress through the country, like milestones on a 
county road. Of course, I do not wish to be understood as cast- 
ing an undeserved aspersion on the departed Hibernian or of 
drawing any questionable deductions from this peculiar coinci- 
dence. 

I have given you herewith personal impressions of the Mexican 
people, the bad together with the good, just as they have been 
seen through these particular eyes. Other eyes are just as good 
and have seen differently. Time alone will show which is in the 
right. 

California Mine, State of Durango, Mexico, March 17, 1901. 



SIXTH LETTER 




UR party reached the hacienda of the 
Cahfornia Mining Company, of 
which souHess corporation I have 
the honor to be President, eight 
days ago, and we have been luxuri- 
ating since in the finest chmate on 
'Ar[\M'^''''''ii'^'-^»^':^^^ earth. The elevation is nearly six 
aiMilBiVi '^ vJ^iHl thousand feet above sea level, and 

such a thing as oppressive heat is 
unknown. The days are mild and 
generous, the air exhiliarating and the atmosphere so dazzlingly 
clear that the outlines of mountains seventy-five miles away stand 
out boldly, clear cut against the indigo blue horizon. I am writ- 
ing now about the period from 8 a.m. to about 7 p.m. But perhaps 
it isn't cold when the sun goes down ! and maybe the editor 
doesn't pile on the blankets when he seeks his lowly couch ! At 
the beastly hour which custom has fixed here for breakfast time, 
everything is frozen stiff as a board and the thermometer down to 
twenty-seven or twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. But, some- 
how, you hardly notice it after the awful agony of getting out of 
bed is over, and, as I said before, by 8 o'clock everything is lovely. 
These sharp changes of temperature, however, are anything but 
unhealthful. In the last year, there have been at least a hundred 
and fifty people living at this camp and during that period there 
has not been a single case of illness, nor an ounce of medicine, 
until my esteemed nephew and myself unlimbered the small-sized 
apothecary shop which female solicitude had provided. This sec- 



52 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



tion, in short, should be shunned hke a pestilence by doctors and 
druggists, but for every one else it is all right. 

We are located in a kind of transition land. This is certainly a 
temperate climate. Quite as much so as the. country around the 
bay of San Francisco, with the difference that the nights are infin- 
itely colder. But not more than a quarter of a mile from our 




Looking- Down the Canyon, I'lom California Mine's Main Tunnel. 



house or shack, to be more accurate, there is a kind of jumping 
off place where you can look down at a river valley, 4,000 feet be- 
low, and into the genuine torrid zone where the scorching sun 
drives every living thing to cover under its meridian rays and 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



53 



where all the forms of animal and vegetable life are strictly trop- 
ical. You can stand there and readily shoot a rifle ball into the 
valley. Somewhere on the mountain, the two forms of botanical 
life, the tropical and temperate, meet. But this meeting point is 
from the nature of the country, on so sharp a line of demarcation 




m the Fines. Lumber Camp of California .\Jinf 



that the two overlap more or les-s and commingle with a strange 
effect. This extends to some degree as far as our hacienda. We 
live in a forest of sugar and yellow pine, oak and madrone, yet 
rioting in it are palms, gorgeous tree orchids, bamboos, gaudy 
climbing vines, that stretch from branch to branch in graceful 



54 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

festoons, and flowers with coloring so vivid that it hurts the eye. 
Then, all day long thousands of parrots, guacamayas and birds 
of strictly tropical habitat chatter and make merry in the foliage. 
To be sure, when it comes to roosting time, they take wing and 
drop down about 3,000 feet, to get away from the shrewd nip of 
our nights. So, we live in all the exuberant beauty of the tropics, 
without the drawbacks. 

Amid these pleasant surroundings, in the heart of the great for- 
est that reminds the resident gringos of their far-away State, for 
it numbers many of the trees peculiar to California, we are build- 
ing one of the dandiest quartz mills you ever saw, just at the junc- 
tion of two dashing mountain streams, clear as crystal and as cold 
as ice. The walls are of beautiful red stone, just like the Flood 
mansion on Nob Hill — not plebeian concrete such as usually pre- 
vails in these parts — and some of the more important timbers are 
of the finest cabinet hardwood, worth all kinds of money in San 
Francisco. It looks more like a millionaire's establishment than 
an hacienda for turning out gold and silver, but a few months 
hence, when the water power is unhitched and the wheels begin 
to revolve, it will be otherwise. But all this has nothing to do 
with the general subject of mining in Mexico, of which I promised 
to write. 

Of all nations of modern times, Mexico has been by far the lar- 
gest contributor to the world's store of precious metals. Ever 
since the conquest by Cortez, nearly four centuries ago, it has 
poured a steady stream of gold and silver into the channels of com- 
merce and trade that has exercised a momentous influence on later 
history. For the most important immediate effect of the discovery 
of America was that it opened up new sources of supply of the 
precious metals. With respect to them, the old world was desper- 
ately poor. Barbarian invasion and the anarchy of the dark ages 
had scattered the once abundant stores of the ancient civilization, 
and every form of enterprise was hopelessly hampered by the lack 
of an adequate medium of exchange. Tn twenty years, the New 
World gave to the Old World more gold and silver than the latter 
possessed before the discovery of the former, and the impulse was 
given to progress and civilization that has never ceased. Mexico 



A flUMPSE OF OLD MEXIOO 



ijij 



and Peru far outstripped all contributors, with Mexico well in the 
lead. 

Those old Spaniards had marvelous noses for the precious met- 
als. Very little that cropped on the surface eluded their keen 
scent, and the country is dotted over with the ruins of their for- 
gotten industry. But for obvious reasons, their work was very 
seldom thorough and comprehensive. Their knowledge of me- 
chanical appliances was extremely limited. If a mine could not be 
operated through a tunnel, their only means of hoisting was on the 




BujldinK a Quartz Mill. The Battery Frame in Place. 

backs of peons, who carried huge leather bags up what are 
propriately termer] "chicken ladders'" — mere notched, poles 



ap- 
set 



56 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

aslant in a shaft. I have traversed them, hanging on with four 
sets of nails and my teeth, and then, when I saw a native go sail- 
ing up with a hundred and fifty pounds on his shoulders, never 
deigning to reach for support, I couldn't help saying "You're a 
bird." If water was encountered, it had to be lifted out the same 
way. Then, the processes of extraction were extremely crude and 
tedious, certainly not more than fifty per cent, of the value being 
saved. The cost of pow^der for blasting, also, was enormous. So 
it had to be a rich mine to attract a Spaniard at all, and even then 
he came to the end of his rope before long. In fact, what they 
were always looking for was "shipping ore," that is, ore rich 
enough to be carried to the seaboard and transported thence to 
Spain for final reduction. And on top of all, the enormous roy- 
alty of twenty per cent, was exacted by the crown and collected 
with merciless precision. So the old Spanish miner did iiot have 
such an everlasting snap after all. Yet, in spite of these obstacles, 
during the first half century after the conquest, Mexico produced 
over a billion dollars of gold and silver. 

It. is known that the Spaniards abandoned hundreds of mines 
for the above reasons while still in good ore. Many of them have 
been reopened and have produced millions upon millions. But 
far the greater number have never been rediscovered and remain 
to reward the explorer's industry. This may seem strange, yet 
it is a sober fact. In this odd country, you will run upon the ruins 
of an ancient town, a half wrecked church, large enough to hold a 
congregation of three or four thousand, the remains of old reduc- 
tion works and great piles of tailings, all telling of a once-prosper- 
ous mining industry. Where did the ore come from? Quien 
sabe. Nobody knows, and you can search the country round for 
miles without finding a trace of tunnel, shaft, or beaten track. The 
explanation is simple enough. During the four months of wet 
season, at least upon the west coast, the rainfall is prodigious, far 
beyojld anything an untutored Californian can conceive of. When 
it gets down to business, it takes about seven drops to fill a horse 
bucket. The water shed is also very steep, and under these con- 
bined conditions the erosion is enormous. Slides, boulders and 
debris come tumbling down from the mountains, and often in a 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 57 

few years the whole face of nature in a given locaHty may be 
changed. In this way, countless numbers of old Spanish workings 
have been obliterated, though another turn of the weather mangel 
is liable to lay them bare again. Moreover, the same erosion is con- 
stantly exposing new ledges that were hidden from the eyes of the 
ancients. Therefore, because 3'ou have prospected a region once 
without result is no reason why it would not pay you to prospect 
it again — particularly after a severe rainy season. 




Frame of Timber Hevrn by Natives, Illustrating Accuracy of Work. 

In fact, one of the things a newcomer must steel himself against 
is the stories about lost mines — abandoned during Spanish rule as 



58 A GLIMPSE OP OLD MEXICO 

above descrilied, or closed down and forgotten in the stormy days 
of the Mexican Republic. If you fail to heed this advice, you will 
be a gibbering lunatic in a month. For these are not stories like 
those current on the mother lode of California, with which we are 
too familiar, based on the creative memory of some antique moss- 
back, who remembers to have heard Long Pete tell about a cement 
streak yaller with gold that Bronco Bill and Rooshian Kate found 
somewhar near Hog Mountain one day when they rid off from 
camp on a drunk. The trouble with the Mexican stories is that 
they are absolutely true. They are founded on of^cial records of 
unquestioned accuracy and other authenticated documents, and 
they will conduct you ever so close to boundless wealth, but stop 
short just when it comes within your grasp. Still, there have been 
some lucky ones who have followed up these clues to fortune. For 
instance, I heard of one man, and this incident is strictly authentic, 
who had been engaged in a hunt for a certain lost mine and, as 
usual, was slowly going crazy. It so happened that he found a 
bundle of forgotten manuscripts in the deserted church of the an- 
cient pueblo, and among them a letter from an old employe in the 
lost mine, addressed to a priest. In it the devout old 
miner stated that as he came out of the tunnel at 
night he could see the lights on the altar of the church 
shining through tl:e door, and never failed to cross 
himself. The piety of the writer did not impress itself on 
the prospector as much as the fact that the mouth of the old tun- 
nel must be on a .straight line drawn from the church altar to the 
door and thence produced. He followed his investigations on this 
theory, actually locating the old tunnel, and now has one of the 
most valuable mining properties in Mexico. 

One more yarn and I am through, though I shall have much 
more to tell about mining in Mexico. This story is from Col. 
Burns, wdio seldom speaks in narrative, and when he does, is wise. 
A century and a half ago, perhaps more and maybe less, there was 
a famous mine in the State from which this letter is written. It 
was the greatest bullion producer of the age, and the king's fifth, 
or crown royalty, was so large that his Most Catholic Majesty be- 
came interested in determining how long the revenue would con- 



A OLfMPKE OF ()\A> MEXICO o» 

tinue. For this purpose he dispatched a royal commission to 
Mexico, comprising three distinguished mining experts. They 
examined the property and reported that there were one hundred 
and fifty milHon dollars in sight, and heaven only knew how much 
out of sight. Almost immediately after, insurrections broke out, 
the country was overrun by bandits and Indians, and the mine was 
closed down. Many years later when it was sought for to exploit 
again its marvelous treasures, not a trace of it was to be found. 
As to the existence of the mine, there is not a shadow of doubt. 
The report of the Spanish experts is 'Still extant. The records of 
the City of Durango tell of the payment of royalty there, of bul- 
lion shipments, and of patent rights to the property. \\'e know 
the names of owners, superintendents, local priests and what not. 
You can be conducted probably ^^■ithin a rifle shot of the right 
place. Yet, after continued research, the secret of the lost mine 
still lies buried in the heart of the ]\Iexican Sierra. 

California Mine, State of Durango, Mexico, March 23, 1901. 



SEVENTH LETTER. 




T is nearly three weeks since I arrived 
here, and during that time this camp, 
or "mineral, "to use the technical phrase 
of the country, has been the busiest 
place in the district. The machinist, 
the mason, the carpenter and plain ordi- 
nary peon have been plying their re- 
spective vocations industriously. Long 
lines of mules and burros have arrived 
daily, loaded with machiner}^ and supplies, and the scene 
has always been full of life and animation. But today 
the sound of the hammer is low and the click of the 
trowel is silenced and the ringing cry of the arriero, 
exhorting his laggard mules in tuneful blasphemy is 
heard no more far up on the mountain side. For this is "la 
semana santa," or holy week, the last of lent, during which, for 
all good Mexicans, the commandment runneth "Thou shalt not 
work." 

I am not quite certain whether this prolonged holiday is ob- 
served from a spirit of profound piety so much as from the deeply 
founded belief that divine punishment will surely follow its breach. 
If you attempt to argue against it, you will be simply overwhelmed 
by instances of impious wretches who have dared to labor on these 
forbidden days and have suffered some awful death in conse- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



61 



quence. \\'e are crowding work on our mill with all speed, and 
yesterday we prevailed on some carpenters to turn out and finish. 
some seasonable work. About noon, one of them banged his 
thumb nail with a hammer. That was enough. Clearly the inci- 
dent was a sign of divine displeasure, a timely Avarning to the rest, 
which none should presume to disregard. Doubtless this instance 
will go down to history as an illustration of the perils of toiling 
during holy week. 




-.^ 



\ 



Johnny-on-the-Spot. 



There is one class of the population, however, not averse to- 
work during holy week, or any other time. These are the Chil- 



62 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

ergs, a kind of Mexican Highlanders. They are born and bred in 
the lofty Sierra region, are sinewy and athletic of frame, frugal of 
habit, of marvelous indurance, and inspired mighty little by re- 
ligious scruples. Added to this, they are the most cheerful and 
imperturbably good natured fellows that the sun shines on. They 
are further noteworthy from the circumstance that they actually 
seem to enjoy work, the tougher the better, a characteristic that I 
have not often encountered in this imperfect world. They are not 
backward, either, in bragging about their appetite for toil, which 
at first is apt to convey the impression that they belong to the famil- 
iar "blowhard'' genus, but experience generally proves them as 
good as their word. We have one particular Chilero in our em- 
ploy who never ceases to amuse me. We call him Johnny-on-the- 
spot, partly as a tribute to his unfailing punctuality, partly because 
his true name happens to be Jesus Christo-r— not an uncommon 
cognomen in these parts — and it seems a trifle irreverent to be 
howling for him under that title across arroyos and from moun- 
tain tops. I have never yet had the pleasure of seeing Johnny in 
repose. He is a kind of incarnate perpetual motion machine, and 
when he is engaged on some sort of a man-killing job, his face fair- 
ly beams with happiness. He is handy at almost anything, and is 
usually a reserve where others fail, but he is especially great as a 
courier. About once a week, we have occasion to send a messen- 
ger to San Dimas. Now, from here to there and back is a deadly 
ride for a seasoned horseman to make in two days. Johnny cav- 
ers the round trip in a day and a half on foot, and usually returns 
with fifty pounds or upward on' his back, and it only makes him 
feel proud. He will then probably put in the afternoon in the pas- 
time of hustling heavy lumber, or something of that kind, and in 
the evenings he calls on our Superintendent to inquire if he hasn't 
something more to do. Johnny is a great orator and usually ac- 
companies these final appeals with a speech generaly eulogistic of 
his own good qualities as a"trabajadore.' "You know, senor," he 
will say, "while in your service I will never flinch. Day or night I 
am always ready. You can drag me from my bed, or call me from 
my meals, and I will not grumble. You can never give me any 
task too hard. If you tell me to jump off a precipice, I wifl do it." 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



63 



This is nearly a word for word translation of his latest effort, but 
it lacks sadly the setting of his fantastic gestures and earnestness 
of speech. 

But this has nothing to do with mining in Mexico, except in a 
remote way, which I started to tell about in my last letter. Not 
only has Mexico been the largest bullion producer in the world, 
but it has also had by far the greatest gold and silver mines. Cal- 
ifornians have to be rather careful here how they swell up about 




I'acking IVIir.iu? Machinery. Th^ "Retort" reaches Camp. Weight, 

8o0 lbs. 

the wonderful record of some great property in their own beloved 
State, which has turned out say five or six miUions of dollars. The 



64 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

Mexican auditor will probably smile and remark, "Yes, a very nice 
little pocket." What they call a good mine here is one that has 
produced say fifty millions, and a big, first class mine is one that 
has run from one hundred millions upward. And there are plenty, 
even of the latter. The greatest mine of Mexico, and of the world, 
is the Valenciana, which has paid royalty on more than one billion 
dollars produced. Not far from our camp is the Guadalupe de los 
Reyes mine. It has been worked for a hundred and fifty years and 
is still turning out nearly two million dollars a year. The famous 
Candelaria mine, also in this neighborhood, was opened in the 
year 1767 by a Spaniard named Zambrano. In the first ten years 
of his ownership, he paid royalty in the City of Durango on fifty- 
five million dollafs of bullion. This mine has been worked off and 
on since then, made many a fortune, and was finally shut down 
and practically abandoned. Messrs. Burns and Waterhouse 
bought it for a trifle, opened up lower levels, took out millions up- 
on millions, and now, as stated in a former letter, have struck new 
ore bodies of great extent and enormous richness. Similar in- 
stances, without number, could be mentioned. In fact, the bottom 
has never been reached of any of the great mines in this district. 
The Candelaria, in its old age, is producing over half a million a 
year. With the new plant in operation, this will be more than 
doubled and there is every reason to believe that it will keep up 
that average for another century yet. 

Nearly all these mines carry both gold and silver. The impres- 
sion prevails in the United States that Mexico is almost exclus- 
ively a silver mining country, but the fact is that most of the veins 
operated carry gold enough to justify their being worked for that 
metal alone. In our own country, four dollar rock in a favorable 
location is looked on as a good enough thing for anybody. 
Nearly all the mines in this neighborhood carry that much gold, 
and from ten dollars upward of silver, which is not a bad thin^ to 
have as a bi-product. And my impression is that mining can be 
carried on cheaper here than in any other part of the world. 

Notwithstanding the work of four hundred years, no one can 
visit Mexico without being convinced that mining here is still in 
its infancy. Either wood or water for power is considered an es- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



65 



sential. and when these are not at hand, no attempt has been made 
to develop promising ledges. Yet there are great streams, 
descending rapidly from the mountains, whose energy could be 
converted into electric power and carried on wires from one loca- 
tion to another. Two or three such plants, costing perhaps half 
a million dollars, would make the wheels turn in not less than a 
hundred mines now Ivine idle in the San Dimas District. But 




Packing Mining Machinery. Arrival oi a Train, 
aside from mines that are undeveloped from lack of cheap and con- 



G6 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



venient power, the prospector has here an immense field in which 
the conditions are generaUy favorable. There are many ledges, 
well worthy of exploration, that have never been cut, and old 
Spanish workings that usually prove profitable when opened up, 
and sometimes lead to immense bonanzas. But it requires money 
to do all this, and for the lack of it many a promising property lies 
idle. For, be it understood, this is not a poor man's country for 




Packing Mining MachineiT. 



The Pile to the Left is Home-made Lime 
for Masonry. 



a miner. You never can carve out a fortune here with no greater 
capital than a strong pair of arms, a pick and a shovel. You must 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 67 

have the stuff — not as much as you need to develop a mine in Cal- 
ifornia, but, nevertheless, a fair sized purse. 

A number of circumstances have combined to cripple the min- 
ing industry in Mexico and prevent the investment of foreign capi- 
tal. In the first place, the unsettledcondition of the country in 
former times was an insuperable barrier. Some fifteen or sixteen 
years ago, when the Diaz administration had succeeded in enforc- 
ing something like order, thousands of mining men swarmed into 
Mexico, principally on^the west coast. It was then that an epi- 
demic of yellow fever, imported by a theatrical troupe from Hav- 
ana, broke out in Mazatlan and spread rapidly through the mining 
regions. Hundreds of foreigners died, and the remainder de- 
parted with more alacrity than they came. The country gained an 
ill repute from this incident from which it.has not fully recovered 
to this day, though not another case of yellow fever has been re- 
ported since on the west coast. Then came the drop in silver val- 
ues, the end of which no one was able to foretell, which at one time 
cut the former profits of mining in two. But of all causes of dis- 
trust, the most serious has been the many failures and immense 
losses occasioned through investments made by parties who had 
never been in the country, knew nothing about the conditions, and 
to make matters worse, intrusted their interests to ignoramuses 
or knaves, The follies committed in the name of mining by com- 
panies organized in St. Touis, New York, England and elsewhere 
pass all belief. Mexico is dotted over with the most weird and 
awful machinery, constructed without the slightest idea of the 
work in hand, transported thousands of miles at a vast expense 
and finally abandoned before it reached its destination. 
. One instance may serve to illustrate the almost incredible lack 
of common intelligence that has marked most mining 
enterprises here. Not far from us - is quite a famous 
mine owned by a swell English company. There is no use giving 
its name; sufhce it to say that half the nobility in the tight little 
isle are shareholders, even such an exalted personage as Her 
Royal Highness, the Princess Beatrice, being interested. The 
story goes that the mine was "salted' on the blooming British ex- 
pert who examined it for his titled clients, but, however that may 



68 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



be, the company proceeded to develop the property, and by some 
perversity of fortune actually blundered onto a great body of rich 
ore that nobody dreamed of being in the neghborhood. Of 
course, that meant a big quartz mill. Now, the mine in question 
is located in the heart of one of the finest forests in the world, 
where native woodsmen can hew out on the spot beams of any di- 
mensions at an almost nominal cost. This would usually be re- 




The Hunting Party. T. 



W. Tompkins, Frank Moseley, J. H. Will<ins, 
Harry Wilkins. 



garded as a most acceptable piece of good fortune, but did the 
English shareholders take advantage of it? Far from it. Every 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 69 

stick of lumber for that mill was framed in the city of London, 
shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, carried by mule teams eight 
hundred miles to the City of Durango, where the remarkable dis- 
covery was made that the great pieces of lumber could no more 
be carried over the remaining hundred and fifty miles of steep and 
tortuous mountain trail than the Pyramid of Cheops. A desper- 
ate effort was made to get some of the lighter stuff through, but 
it finally stranded about thirty miles outside of Durango, where 
it remans to this day. These eyes have .seen it. 

The mine is a marvel. The mill was subsequently built with 
the local timber, the wheels turned and the bullion commenced 
to grind out. Then the stockholders began to send their younger 
sons and ne'er-do-weels and saddle them on the enterprise as as- 
sistant superintendents, deputy assistant superintendents, and 
vice deputy assistant superintendents, until there was an official 
list as long as your leg, and every man jack of them with a peach 
of a salary. The young gentlemen maintain no end of style, keep 
up golf links, lawn tennis grounds and a polo course, take their 
diurnal tubs regularly, have their boots "cleaned" and go to work 
every morning in tennis flannel suits, with trousers carefully turned 
up at the bottom. Yet, with all this, the mine pays, and it stands 
perhaps as a solitary instance where continued mismanagement 
has failed to wreck a property of this kind. 

A\'ell, I must finish the mining dissertation later on. The Cali- 
fornia mine and works are now cloised down tight. All the Mex- 
ican population has departed for San Dimas, where during the 
holy week the mescal will circulate merrily for social entertain- 
ment and the greater glory of God. So we gringos have an un- 
sought holiday on our hands and tomorrow set out for a grand 
eight days' hunting trip- We are going to one of the wildest and 
most unfrequented sections of the Sierra, where bear, tigers, wild 
boars and deer abound, where wild turkeys are thicker than chip- 
pies in California, and a large and gamey trout haunts the 
mountain streams. There will be four gringos in the party, 
Senores Don Tomas Tompkins, Don Francisco Mosely, Don 
Enrique Wilkins and Don Santiago del mismo nombre, also John- 
ny-on-the-spot and several fellow Chileros. I give the names, as 



70 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

this expedition is likely to prove famous, for if I fail to make 
Teddy Roosevelt look like a ten-cent piece when I write up the 
story of it then this pen will have lost its cunning. 

Wonder how much some of the San Francisco sports would 
give to be with our crowd? 

California Mine, State of Durango, Mexico, April 2, 1901. 






E I Ct H T H T; E T T E R . 




HAVE attempted to convey some idea 
of mining in Alexico in a general way. 
To put the situation more exactly, I 
will enumerate briefly the reasons why 
this country ought to command the 
attention of mining men the world 
over. First and foremost, because the 
real thing is here. I have already 
given an idea of the enormous produc- 
tion of past ages and the great revival 
of the industr}- within recent years. Yet I am not giving my own 
valueless opinion, but the mature judgment of every capable min- 
ing expert who has visited Mexico, when I say that the surface 
has barely been scratched, that there are still countless prizes to 
reward the prospector's enterprise, and that when capital finally 
directs its magic influence this way in earnest, the land of the 
Montezumas will become, once more, by far the greatest contrib- 
utor to the ever increasing demand of civilization for the precious 
metals. 

But gold and silver do not by any means constitute the only 
great mineral resources of Mexico, although until very recent 
years they have been the sole objects of the miner's quest. Out- 
side of these, the mineral wealth of the country is enormous, but 
still almost entirely undeveloped. Some inquiry has been made 
for copper properties, since the great advance in the price of that 
metal, and agents of foreign capitalists are busily examining prop- 



72 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



ositions of this kind. One -mine, the Santa RosaHa, located on 
the Gulf of California, is now rivaling the great producers of our 




' "j fa " 1 - ' V *•' 



■ ^"^U.i^ ^k.^ 



.* ■ ■■ 






Constructing a Pipe Line for Power. Mouth of Tunnel and Settling 

Tank. 

time. It is owned by a French company, and during the year 1900 
is said to have paid dividends amounting to forty million francs 
(about $7,200,000). Large plants are being installed at many 
other localities and Mexico will soon take a foremost place in the 
copper industry. 

Some of the most remarkable iron deposits of the earth are 
found in Mexico and remain as a rule to this day untouched by 
man, and in most cases, not even under private owaiership. The 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 73 

Iron Mountain, a mile or so from the City of Durango, is a large 
hill, one solid mass of nearly eighty per cent, iron ore. Aside 
from the enormous amount of metal visible, it has also been as- 
certained that it extends to a great depth beneath the surface, the 
whole constituting what is, humanely speaking, an inexhaustible 




Constructing a Power Line. A Mexican Trestle. 

deposit. The story goes that when the late ]\Ir. C. P. Huntington 
extended his railroad system to Durango, it was largely because 
of the traffic possibilities presented by this marvelous property, 
and it is said that he was negotiating for its purchase when the 



74 A GLIMFSE OF OLD MEXICO 

hand of death checked his busy brain forever. I have been reli- 
ably informed that there is a still larger iron mountain in South- 
ern Mexico, and countless others of minor importance which, in 
the fullness of time, will be developed profitably. 

It is known that extensive coal fields exist in many parts of 
Mexico, but scarcely an efl^ort has been made to uncover them. A 
noted mining expert informed me that probably the largest an- 
thracite bed in the world was in a remote, and at present inaccess- 
ible, section of the State of Sonora. It is likewise known that 
there are coal veins in the country drained by the Yaqui and 
Fuerte Rivers. In many places, there are strong indications of 
petroleum, and beyond all question, important oil districts will 
soon be discovered. But so far as the latter industry is concerned, 
it is substantially unexplored. 

Zinc and lead deposits are numerous, but neglected. The 
former has been overlooked entirely and the latter worked only 
as a bi-product in the treatment of the precious metal ores. 
Other forms of mineral wealth occur, that need not be enumerated 
here, that remain unnoticed. The miner's research has extended 
only to the precious metals, and in a smaller way to copper. Out- 
side of these, the field is practically a virgin one, that will repay 
richly those who have the energy and capital to exploit it scien- 
tifically and systematically. 

Another advantage that the miner enjoys here is the remark- 
able liberality of the laws relating to his occupation. He is re- 
garded as an individual who deserves special encouragement, for 
his enterprise gives employment to hundreds of thousands and in- 
jures no one. I have already referred to the very lenient system 
of taxation. Another immense item is the fact that the entire area 
of Mexico is open to exploration, except within the limits of 
pueblos or towns and on territory used for governmental pur- 
poses. Ownership of th6 surface of land does not carry with it 
title to the mineral wealth below and anyone who discovers a de- 
posit of mineral has the absolute right to denounce or file on it 
and carry on his mining operations, no matter who holds the title 
deeds to the top of the ground. He can also denounce an 
hacienda, or mill site, and whatever more may be necessary to con- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



75 



duct his business to the best advantage. If he needs wood or 
water, no grasping landlord can extort an exorbitant price for 
these prime necessities. If the miner and the landlord cannot 
agree on terms, the former notifies the latter that he has appointed 
Senor to represent him in fixing rates. In eight days, the 




Constriictir^ a Power Line. A Native Retaining Wall. 

land owner must nominate a like representative. These two^. 
with the local Judge of the First Instance (Superior Judge), form 
a board of arbitration, which must convene, consider the case and 
render a decision within eight days, fixing legally the prices that 
may be charged. An appeal lies from this decision, but in the 
meanwhile the miner can eo ahead and take wood and water at 



76 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

the figures named by the arbitrators. As a matter of fact, these 
decisions are scarcely ever appealed from, nor is it even necessary 
often to have recourse to boards of arbitration. The miner's rem- 
edy being speedy and decisive, arrangements are usually made 
without serious friction on either side; and it may be said here 
that a little of this summary way of dealing out justice might be 
copied in the United States to the general advantage of litigants. 
In other words, the miner here holds the top hand at all stages 
of the game. In California, after he finds a mine, as like as not it 
will be rendered valueless because some unconscionable fellow 
owns the only accessible water and timber and will not allow him 
the use of these essentials except on terms that are practically pro- 
hibitive. Again, exploration in our State is practically limited to 
the public domain, constantly lessening in area, for it is small com- 
fort to find a mine on another man's land and receive only his 
thanks for your trouble. 

Then you have a very efficient, cheap and contented class of 
laborers to deal with. The Mexican miner is industrious to the 
backbone, is native born to his trade, for his forefathers have 
worked in the same groove for generations, and he is perfectly 
satisfied with his lot. There are no unions, walking delegates or 
strikes or friction between employer and employe, providing the 
former treats his men half-way decent. He must pay them 
promptly, have some regard for life and limb about his works and 
not attempt to overreach them too outrageously in general mat- 
ters of business. When these plain conditions are disregarded, 
there is trouble of the passive kind and lots of it. That is, when a 
mine once gets a bad name by reason of ill-treatment of its em- 
ployes, you might as well try to move the Sierra Madre as induce 
a Mexican to work in it. Valuable properties have been com- 
pelled to close their works, and keep them closed through the 
folly of their management in dealing with their men. But accord 
them fair treatment and they are as easy a lot to get along with as 
I ever met. The general scale of wages here is about half that in 
the United States, payable in Mexican money. The cost of living, 
liowever, is about correspondingly less. The Mexican miner 
■could lay by a tidy sum against a rain}^ day if he wanted to, but he 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



IT 



doesn't. Most of his income passes down the ahmentary canals 
of himself and family,although he is by no means averse to fine 
raiment, if there is any balance after the grub bill is liquidated. 
In one matter of extravagance, things are reversed in Mexico. 
The gringo's nose is held rather steadily at the grindstone to keep 
his females in headgear. Here the women wear neither hat nor 




Const' ucting a Power Line. A Tougn Stretch. 



bonnet, but the vanity of the men in this direction is inordinate 
and limitless. To own a swell sombrero is the crowning ambition 
of a Mexican's life. These sombreros are gorgeous affairs, cost- 
ing from fifteen dollars up into the hundreds, and it is astonishing 



78 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

to see the kind of people who acquire property rights in extremely 
fine ones. This weakness is worked on with deadly effect in the 
stores. When a Mexican with a shabby tile enters, a salesman 
invariably requests the privilege of trying an expensive sombrero 
on him. Then, if he can be induced to look at himself in the 
glass, his doom is sealed. He will make any sacrifice, discount the 
future and tie himself up in all sorts of financial knots to own that 
hat. Therefore, it frequently happens that you will see a Mexican 
strutting proudly along under a hundred dollar hat, the balance of 
whose raiment would be dear at six bits. 

I can merely enumerate briefly a few of the remaining condi- 
tions favorable to the mining industry, and I refer here only to 
the States of Durango and Sinaloa, so far as I am familiar with 
them. The ores are generally of a free milling character, yielding 
to the cheap processes of amalgamation and cyanide. Wood and 
water, those prime necessities, are plentiful and as a rule easily ac- 
cessible. Lastly, the walls of ledges are generally so hard and dur- 
able that they will stand without timbering, which in many locali- 
ties entails an enormous bill of expenses. 

Then, it is only fair to give the other side, for there are certainly 
some serious drawbacks to mining in Mexico. The principal and 
perhaps onty grave one is the matter of transporting heavy mach- 
inery and supplies. I have been here six weeks assisting as best I 
might in the construction of the California Mining Company's 
mill and can write on this subject with the profound emotion of 
personal experience. Man can engage in no more heartbreaking 
job. The trails in this section, leading from the seaboard, are so 
bad that the worst in our country look like speed tracks by com- 
parison. They traverse arroyos littered with rocks as big as a 
church, skirt chasms and precipices that make your hair lift when 
you look down, and cross mountain ranges ten thousand feet 
high by grades almost as steep as going up a chimney. When it 
comes to packing several hundred tons of machinery and supplies 
over such a route, perhaps you can gather some idea of the under- 
taking, and perhaps you can not. The trails are only open seven 
months in the year, for during the rainy season they are impass- 
able, and in that period you must somehow get your luggage into 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



79 



camp. You are absolutely dependent on the mule for motive 
power and the mule is dependent on the muleteer, who is a mighty 
irresponsible fellow. He leaves Mazatlan with your freight all 
right enough, but when he will reach his place of destination is 
another thing. He loathes to handle machinery at any price and 
if he chances to hear of desirable freight at some other point, he 
will drop your cargo by the way, run ofT after the other stuff and 
return to your invoice when he gets good and ready. When T 




A Mexican Trail. The Best T Saw in the Counti>. 

came from ]\Iazatlan. I found parts of the California mill and 
power pipe line adorning the trail from the first stopping place 



80 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

to the mine, and it has only been by dint of superhuman exertion 
and powerful official influence that we have finally succeeded in 
getting things pretty much in shape. Then, what you want first, 
always comes last, and you have to hold down the safety valves 
of your temper while train after train winds into camp with loads 
of material that you cannot pos.sibly go to work on till something 
else arrives. Ah this entails endless vexation and expense, but 
in the nature of things, it is only temporary. Finally your plant 
is all together and in operation, after which your serious troubles 
are at an end. 

But, even if there are some drawbacks here, Mexico is all 
right and will soon regain its reputation as the world's greatest 
mining country. If the money wasted on fool projects at Nome 
last year had been diverted our way, it would have developed by 
this time the boom of the age. 

I cannot tell you about our great hunting and fishing trip into 
the high Sierra Madre further than to remark that it was a James 
Dandy, only we almost froze to death every night. We got right 
into the heart of the bear, deer, wild turkey and trout region, 
and if we didn't have fun to the filling of our bellies, then my 
name is something else. But this subject deserves a letter by it- 
self. Hasta la vista. 

California Mine, State of Durango, Mexico, April 13, 1901. 



NINTH LETTER 




FTER you have jogged along 
through Hfe beyond the turning 
of the ways and watched the 
milestones marking the thirties 
and most of the forties speed 
swiftly by, did it ever oc- 
cur to you what it would 
mean to feel like a boy again, 
be it for ever so short a 
time? Not that I consider 
childhood the happiest part of 
human existence by considerable, for it is full of its own troubles^ 
big and small. It is a period of dependence and of restraint that 
are felt then far more than we realize in after years. If you doubt 
that statement, think of the kid who has to march off to a dingj 
school on some glorious spring morning, while his little heart is 
full of birds and woods and flowers and all the inspirations of the 
season. Recall, as you probably can, how your very soul used to 
revolt against acts of tyranny, perhaps imaginary and perhaps 
not, for a boy does not always have a square deal. Remember 
how you have laid awake at nights and dreamed of the time, when 
you would be big and strong enough to lick the school teacher 
who had just disciplined you. Then consider, as your half-for- 
gotten experience will doubtless enable you to do, what a tough 
lot boys are with each other, how the weak are set upon, how 
merciless thev are to the sensitive and shrinking. I held my own 



82 



A GLIMPSE or OLD MEXICO 



fairly well with my early contemporaries, yet I never can for- 
get one day, almost forty years ago, when I went to school in a 
Little Lord Fauntleroy suit of black velvet and the jibes and 
jeers I suffered with a breaking heart on that occasion from a lot 
of young demons, before I returned home and took that suit off, 
never to be worn again. No, if you think it over dispassionately, 
childhood is not all that it is cracked up to be, even when your 
lives are cast in pleasant places. Nor is early youth altogether 




Mountain Scenery. Sierra Madre. 

the idyllyic age that the poets assure us it is. The romping and 
flirting with the girls is all well enough but that is only an inci- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 83 

dent. The average young man who is suddenly thrust into the 
world to make his own way is of all created things the most 
helpless. He realizes it so thoroughly that many a poor fellow 
gives up the struggle in sheer despair and falls by the wayside. 
He must endure the snubs of his elders who never seem to recol- 
lect that they too were once raw beginners, be thankful for a beg- 
garly income that will not permit of the legitimate pleasures he 
longs for and through it all see no certain rift in the clouds that 
darken his destiny. 

I have been through it all and at this stage of the journey, as I 
compare the present with the past, I can say without a moment's 
hesitation, give me comfortable middle age, every time. When 
you have hewed out a secure place in the wo^-ld for yourself, 
have outgrown the sordid cares of keeping the wolf from the door 
and making both ends meet, when you are able to look on things 
like a philosopher with a mind broadened by experience, when 
you can go home to a happy familv at night and withal still en- 
joy health, strength and faculties unimpaired, then I am very sure 
that man is at the time when life means more for him than any 
other. The only trouble is that the colors of middle age are not 
fast. They begin to fade altogether too soon, almost as soon as 
you begin to learn how rich and strong they are. 

But for all that there is something about boyhood that few of 
us forget in later years — it is then that we feel the thrill of ex- 
panding life, the sense of development, physical and intellectual, 
and the buoyancy of growth. What an intense appetitite for fun 
we used to have when it came our way and how short the days 
used to iseem. How easily sleep came to us with the night and it 
wasn't any trouble to get out of bed in the morning, even if the 
frost was on the lawn. Yes, that marvelous exhilaration of youth 
and untiring energy, we remember only too well as we start 
down the long toboggan amid the lengthening shadows and when 
we recall them in fancy, a sigh comes surging up from the depths, 
laden with the refrain, "\\'ould I were a boy again." 

I have made that reflection once or twice and behold ! the wish 
has been realized. I am forty-seven years old and past but for 
eight days I have been a boy once more, just as sure as two and 



84 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



three make six. And there wasn't any fairy god-mother work 
about it either; for the matter of that mine has probably become 
too aged and sedate to be playing pranks any more. It was just 
the purely natural results of our outing in the high Sierras, an 
experience open to anyone who cares to try it. In a former letter, 
I spread myself about the climate at the CaHfornia mine and I do 
not wish to take back a word of it now. But the climate of the 
lofty Mexican mountains is a veritable inspiration, a thing "sui 







In the Mexican Siena — a Picturesque Gorge. 

generis," incomparable and indescribable. It gives you the sen- 
sation of walking on air and a suggestion that at last you have 
found the object of Ponce de Leon's fruitless quest. Then you 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



85 



have the marvelous and stupendous scenery of the Seirras to fill 
your very soul with gladness, the exalting sense of perfect free- 
dom and. last but not least, a sportsman's paradise to wander 
through. I will never forget those eight days. They brought 
back the best of boyhood with a rush. It did not seem as though 
fatigue were possible and every incident turned spontaneously 
into merriment and fun, just as it used to when school was over 




In the Mexican Sierra — Porphyry Buttes. 



long, long ago. A hundred dollars a minute ought to be dirt 
cheap to have the clock's hands turned backward in this fashion 



86 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

but I intend to repeat the experiment at least once a year here- 
after at a far less price. 

We left the California mine on April 3cl, with a well stocked 
commissary department, eight souls in all, four gringos and four 
Mexicans. Mr. Frank Moseley elected to stay by the works and 
an employe of the Mexican Gold and Silver Recovery Company 
took his place, with the usual mozo attendant. A Rurale hap- 
pened into camp the night before, scented a good time from 
afar and joined our forces. His first name was Manuel — I never 
inquired the balance of it- — and a better man for roughing it never 
stood in shoe leather. We rode over a lofty range in the early 
morning, followed a long ridge for several miles and plunged 
down into a vast and precipitous canyon, known as the Arroyo 
Santa Barbara. It was a risky sort of a descent here and there; 
several times we had to dismount and help our mules down by 
the tail, a courtesy which the sagacious animals understand and 
appreciate. But at length we emerged from our difficulties on a 
beautiful grassy meadow luxuriant with rich feed, through which 
a dashing mountain stream ran, clear as crystal and cold as ice. 
This secluded and almost inaccessible valley was a famous lurk- 
ing place for bandits a quarter of a century ago, or less. The 
ruins of their old well built log houses still stand. Here, on a car- 
pet of pine needles, we spread the generous contents of our grub 
box which were attended to with the gusto of a mountain appe- 
tite. A few minutes after we had started for the afternoon ride, 
we had our first experience with that king of game birds, the 
Mexican wild turkey or cocano. We were proceeding in leisurely 
fashion through the timber with the isilence that usually follows 
a square meal when one of the Mexicans in a hushed voice hissed 
the word, "cocanos." There they were, a flock of probably fifty 
of them. We had come upon them by surprise, a rare thing in- 
deed, for the wild turkey is the wariest of game. I had heard 
about the immense size and weight of these birds but never be- 
fore realized the truth of it till I saw them in a state of nature. 
Why, the finest Christmas turkey in California would look like 
a squab alongside of one of these mighty gobblers. There was 
one old patriarch in the group that seemed nearly as tall as the 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD jMEXTCO 



87 



Eiffel Tower and after seeing him I am quite ready to admit that 
the Mexican wild turkey often weighs fifty pounds. Well, if we 
surprised them, they surprised us. Not a gun was ready and 
though we slid off our mules and got them out of the scabbards 
with nervous haste, by the time we had cleared the decks for ac- 
tion, the birds were zig-zagging through the timber with that 
deceptive trot of theirs. However, we made a run for it, endea- 
voring to come to close range and ever and anon blazing away 




A MeMican Faisan. 



at an illusive turkey in the \'ain hope that a case of nigger luck 
would bring him down. Fortune nearly came my way. My 
nephew started in pursuit of the aforementioned colossal gobbler 



88 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

and turned it down a long ridge. It occurred to me that I could 
make a short cut and head it off and I proceeded to execute this 
manoeuvre at the imminent risk of chest foundering, for running 
in these altitudes is rather hard on the wind. My calculations 
were all right in one way; for I intercepted the gobbler at close 
range and had I carried a rifle his shrift would have been short. 
Unluckily, I was armed with nothing better than a shotgun. I 
gave him both barrels as he turned but it seemed only to put more 
ginger into his heels. As I hung to a tree, in a vain effort to catch 
my breath again, I watched him climb a ridge, reach the crest, 
halt a moment to look back and smile at me, just a trifle sadly, I 
thought, and then he was gone forever. 

The truth might as well be told. This was our luck all through 
the outing so far as turkeys were concerned. We could hear 
them gobbling and perhaps see a dozen or more disappearing like 
ghosts in the timber but we never had a dead man's chance of 
bagging one. We made our fatal mistake when we tied poor Dewey 
up before our departure. A dog is absolutely essential to wild 
turkey hunting. A setter or pointer will easily outrun them and 
make they fly into the trees and nothing else will induce them to 
take wing. Once in a tree, the most astute and experienced gob- 
bler will pay no attention to a hunter whatever. His eyes and 
thoughts are all fixed on the dog and it is simply a matter of 
walking within range and bowling him over. Remember this and 
you will never be short of turkey in the Mexican mountains. 
Otherwise my experience will be yours. 

This part of Mexico is particularl}^ rich in its variety of galli- 
naceous game birds, their habitat being influenced more or less 
by altitude. There are at least seven varieties of them within 
the scope of a day's hunt of our mine. First and foremost, there 
is the gorgeous and imperial wild turkey. Next in order is the 
faisan, which resembles a turkey in its long neck, throat wattles 
and general make-up a good deal more than a pheasant, the 
Spanish name for which it bears. It weighs about twelve pounds, 
has a fine gamey flavor, but is the most idiotic of birds, appar- 
ently going out of its way to be killed and therefore gives the true 
sportsman little joy. The cut herewith represents Johnny-on- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



89 



the-Spot and your humble servant supporting a recently slaught- 
ered faisan. Then comes the queche or chachalaca resembling 
the faisan but much smaller and more handsomely plumed, like- 
wise not overburdened with intellectual gifts. I have written of 
the queche in a previous letter. There is also a true grouse, 




In the Mexican 



though very rare in these parts, for I have not seen over four or 
live specimens. Two distinct and very large kinds of mountain 
quail are numerous. These are genuine game birds, strong of 
wing and remarkably puzzling flyers when first flushed. No ap- 
prentice with a shotgun can land them. Last of all there is the 



90 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

valley quail similar to our Californian quail, but smaller, very game 
and toothsome no end. These make a royal collection for the 
sportsman and the field is likely to remain a good one for years 
to come, as the birds are absolutely unmolested by the native pop- 
ulation. Shotguns are unknown in these parts and anyhow the 
average Mexican has the utmost contempt for the smaller game. 
A deer is about the smallest thing he cares to bother with. 

But to resume, after the turkey incident, we went climbing up- 
ward till we reached the summit of a great flat ridge that stretched 
out to the eastward, beautifully diversified with forest and open 
glade; Deer were crossing our path every few minutes and a 
couple of them tried it once too often. We could have killed a 
dozen just as easily but w^e were honest sportsmen and had no wish 
to slaughter wantonly. 

We found a spring of sparkling water late in the afternoon and 
went into camp. My aneroid informed me that we were just a 
shade over iiooo feet above sea level and later on when the cold 
began to pinch it would'nt have surprised me to learn that we were 
five miles up in the air. I was all right, for like an old campaigner 
I had brought enough blankets along to load a mule. But how 
those poor devils of Mexicans lived through the night I never will 
understand. They had a serape apiece, about as thick as a light 
shawl and this is their regular covering by night, whether they are 
sojourning on the tropical coast land or camped on the lofty 
sierra, where the theremometer gets down close to the zero point 
before day break. On this occasion, they curled up in their iserapes 
and calmy we.nt to sleep with half a yard of leg sticking out. Now 
and then, one of them would mutter "caramba" get up, stir the fire, 
hang over it until his clothes fairly smoked and after thus hoisting 
on board a satisfactory cargo of heat, return once more to the 
arms of Morpheus. But even with this adjunct their capacity to 
assimilate cold was wonderful. I never .saw the like of it before. 

We were up betimes, anticipating the sun somewhat and eating 
breakfast with a crisp white frost covering the ground. An hour 
or so later, you could hardly realize that it had ever been cold, so 
generous was the sunshine, so soft and balmy was the breeze. By 
noon we were camped on the banks of a bewilderingly beautiful 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



91 



trout stream, ideal for the angler's craft, replete with waterfalls 
and long dark pools and no underbrush to hamper operations. I 
had a regulation dude outfit, split bamboo rod, fly book, reels, 
spoons, iish basket, etc. and I went to work in scientific fashion,, 
as will be seen from the subjoined snap shots. The others cut 
poles that looked like base ball bats, tied on lines and hooks baited. 




Catchiuf^ ^' I ^ -i st Trout. 

with grasshoppers or grubs and if the sad truth must be told,were 
yanking trout out of the water rather more rapidl}^ than my- 
self. The fact is the season was not propitious for fly fishing. It 



•92 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



was early for the insect life that' later swarms the air and the 
speckled darlings, dependent on food from other sources, did not 
rise enthusiastically. As I did'nt want to be beaten at the game, 
I did a little bait fishing of my own and soon silenced the laugh 
that had started at my expense. 

The Mexican trout closely resembles the rainbow variety, only 




A Small But Well Stocked Stream. 



the markings are stronger and the colors more vivid. They do 
not grow to enormous proportions and a pound fish is a very 
large one here. From six to ten inches is about the average of 
the catch but to my way of thinking this is the ideal size. For 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 9a 

firmness of flesh and delicacy of flavor they can not be surpassed 
the world over. Like the feathered tribe, they are practically un- 
molested by man. Several gringos from San Dimas come once 
a year to fish in one of the creeks in this neighborhood and catch 
perhaps a few hundred during a stay of three or four days, but that 
is about the sum of human depredations. The stream we first 
tackled had never been fished before — at least an old Chilero 
gentleman residing in the neighborhood so informed me. He 
claimed to have lived on the creek for upwards of seventy years 
and had never seen or heard of any angling there previous to our 
coming. 

These mountain fastnesses have a sprinkling of population. 
Here and there, the rugged gorges broaden out into small valleys 
with a soil well suited to the cultivation of maize and in these you 
will usually find a family installed and a pretty big one at that. 
Here are the breeding grounds of the Chileros, those hardy 
mountaineers who descend periodically to the lower levels and 
astonish the onlookers with their strength, activity and willingness 
to work. A finer race physically it would be hard to find. Instead 
of the .sallow complexion prevalent among the lower classes of 
Mexico, the red blood tinges their cheeks in a way very agreeable 
to look upon, especially when the object is one of the gentler sex. 
Among the women, I saw some of the finest complexions it has 
ever been my pleasure to behold. While not very tall, they are 
superbly proportioned and have an unusual chest development, 
that I take is due to the natural enlargement of the lungs to com- 
pensate for the attenuated atmosphere in these high attitudes. At 
all events, they suffer no inconvenience of breathing under heavy 
exertions and cHmb the steepest hills like goats where an ordinary 
lowlander would have to take a rest every ten steps. 

Their habits of life are simplicity itself. They know nothing 
about intoxicants, use tobacco sparingly, if at all, and corn, 
worked up into tortillas, comprises about four-fifths of their diet. 
They are absolutely ignorant of the luxuries of civilization and 
likewise of the penalties they entail. The long array of physical 
afflictions that hover over crowded centers and stand continually 
like horrible specters to fill us with a haunting dread, find no abid- 



94 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

ing place in these mountains. Consumption, cancer and the whole 
group of germ diseases are unheard of, except through passing 
tradition from the outside world. Smallpox, indeed, occasionally 
makes an inroad but that is all they have to fear and its ravages 
are not very fatal. They take it like philosphers when it comes, 
house themselves and simply permit the disease to run its 
course, which it usually does in a satisfactory way. I saw a family 
of about a dozen, some of whom bore honorable scars of a recent 
set-to with the dreaded scourage, and was informed that every 
member had been down with it at the same time a couple of years 
before. All of them pulled through, however, and barring the 
scars, which were not very pronounced, were none the worse for 
the experience. The special senses seem to be preserved to a 
great age. It is the commonest thing to see an aged man or 
woman with keen eyes, ears that catch every sound and last but 
not least, w4th teeth as flawless as in the days of childhood. Those 
who have suffered the agonies of the damned from morbid molars 
can best appreciate what that means. 

Their life is not very eventful. The appearance of our cavalcade 
made them perfectly idiotic with delight and their simple hospi- 
tality was wide open. Doubtless the story of our visit will be 
handed down to posterity as a noteworthy incident of local history 
and later generations will hear of the wonderful strangers who 
killed birds flying, a feat that never failed to excite astonishment, 
and who practiced a strange art that induced fish to leave the 
water on the end of a string. But do not fall into the error of 
imagining that these people are to be pitied. When I think of 
their abounding health and buoyant spirits, their long lives with- 
out ache or pain, even as old age comes gently on and then re- 
member the wan faces and bent forms only too familiar in the 
haunts of civilized man ; the gouts, dyspepsias and torpid livers, 
the wearinesses and lassitudes of our abnormal existence and the 
pills, tonics, castor oil and cocktails with which we vainly endeavor 
to brace up exhausted nature and stand ofT the inevitable, then I 
am more than half inclined to the opinion that the Chilero gentle- 
man has distinctlythe best of the game even if he lives in a shack 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 95 

and misses the French dinners, tailor made clothes, automobiles 
and swell mansions that we enjoy. 

And thus our eight days in the mountains slipped swiftly by. I 
promised to thrill you with blood-curdling descriptions of my ad- 
ventures with the savage tenants of the wilderness and had I once 
started on that tack my readers would still be trembling with ex- 
citement, for my invariable rule is never to spoil a g'ood story for 
want of facts. But the truth is, we had no experiences of the ex- 
citing order. There is no end of big game in the mountains such 
as lions, bears, leopards and wild boars, but you never see them 
unless you have dogs to drive them from their haunts, So if a 
chronicle of every day was furnished, one would be pretty much 
the same as the other but each was brimful of hearty enjoyment, 
without an unpleasant incident to mar the whole. Hunting, fish- 
ing, good fellowship and the brisk air of the mountains are enough 
to make any rational man take a cheerful view of existence and 
when I said I felt a boy again all over, I did not stretch matters 
a bit. 

We took about sixty views of camp life, mountain scenery and 
of the Chileros and their abodes. Sad to relate, all but five or six 
proved failures. The intense light and odd atmospheric con- 
ditions are apt to play the mischief with amateur photography in 
Mexico as I have found more than once to my sorrow. In this 
instance, I regret the loss particulary for our work related to a 
region upon which no camera had been directed before. 

California Mine, State of Durango, Mexico, April i8, 1901. 



TENTH LETTER 




N outline is all I have been able to 
give in preceding letters of the 
great mining industry of Mexico, 
of its impressive past, prosperous 
present and the limitless possibil- 
ities ahead when capital and enter- 
prise unite in developing its miner- 
al wealth. But not alone in that 
direction is the future bright with 
promise. Mexico is enormously 

rich in agricultural resources, which for the most part are still in 
the latent state. In certain sections, some attempt has been made 
to cultivate the soil according to modern methods, but as far as 
my observation has extended, husbandry is still in a most primitive 
condition. Improved agricultural machinery is practically un- 
known. The earth is still broken with a wooden plow, the crops 
harvested with a machete, the corn shelled by hand and the chaff 
separated by the breezes. In one particular only do the rancheros 
display any marked capacity in their work — in the curious art and 
vast industry devoted to the construction of irrigating ditches. 
As might be expected under these conditions, agriculture is any- 
thing but varied. Two or three staples comprise almost the entire 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



97 



list. I think that about three-fourths of the energies of the farmer 
class are devoted to raising corn and beans, the mainstays of life 
in Mexico. Cattle raising is also an important pursuit, and one 
of the few that is pushing ahead rapidly at present. Of course, in 
additon to the above, tobacco culture, sugar, coffee and choco- 
late growing are carried on in specially favored localities on a 






Near the Crest of the Sierra. 



more or less extensive scale. Sugar production, in particular is 
coming rapidly to the front and the apparently authentic figures 
they give you of the profits of certain haciendas, fairly make the 
head dizzy. But the diversities of agriculture, such as we are 
famihar with in the United States, are not found here on an ap- 



98 A GLIMPSE OF OLD xMEXICO 

preciable scale, and some branches are unknown altogether. For 
instance, I might mention one of special local interest — that of 
dairying — so far as butter making is concerned. No butter, to 
the best of my knowledge, is produced in commercial quantities 
in Mexico. In my travels, I have never seen an ounce of the 
native product. All of it comes from Sweden in tins of from a 
quarter of a pound up. An ocean of this stuff is used, although 
it is a terrible poor substitute for the fresh article, and sells at the 
dizzy price of $1.50 per pound, silver, or about eighty cents of our 
money. Now, while the country on the west coast of Mexico, say 
for a hundred miles back, is not adapted to dairying, when you 
climb into the mountains you find the conditions admirably suited. 
When hunting in the high Sierra some weeks ago, I saw thous- 
ands of acres of the finest dairy land, great stretches of grass land, 
green the year round, and abundant water, coupled with cool and 
bracing climate. I should rate it at least equal to the best dairy 
ranches in Marin County, California. The native cows are of little 
value as milkers, but if some fellow had the enterprise to bring a 
graded herd of American cows into this section and set up in the 
dairy business, I have not a doubt that he would make his ever- 
lastig fortune in no time. These mountain ranges are still, in 
many instances, part of the public domain, and where under pri- 
vate ownerhip, can be purchased at almost nominal prices. I 
am now treating for one of them myself — a small affair of 13,000 
acres — which took my fancy, primarily because it is the finest 
stretch of country for the sportsman that I ever saw. I verily be- 
liev-e that there are more tons of game and trout on that one ranch 
than in the counties of Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino combined. 
If I acquire it, I will give my California friends a permit to hunt 
there when they visit Mexico, but bags of wild turkeys will be 
limited strictly to twenty-five. But as soon as I make a good raise 
in the mines, I intend to take up the dairy proposition on this 
ranch, if no one gets in ahead of me, and see just what is in it. 

I have referred to dairying simply as an example of dormant 
possibilites. How wide the range of these may be, I am not in a 
position to state. But it goes without saying that a country that 
presents every diversity of climate from tropical to north temper- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 99 

ate, through variations of altitude, that possesses a fertile soil and 
a fairly industrious rural population, is still in its agricultural in- 
fancy when it has progressed no further than Mexico has today. 
It is now doing little better than supplying the wants of its own 
people. In many directions it is not even doing that. Whereas, 
if its resources were properly exploited, it would be sending its 
wealth by hundreds of ships to feed the hungry of other lands, just 
as the sister republic to the north is doing. That there is sure to 
be an immense boom in agriculture here seems to me one of the 
most certain things in this shifting world, and that the millions of 
acres now lying idle and tenantless will soon be dedicated to their 
proper uses. Therefore, I cannot imagine an investment more 
sure to yield a rich return in the future than the purchase of real 
property in Mexico, in those sections where it can be had pretty 
much at the buyer's figures. The conditions are very much the 
same as in California in 1849, when ranchos were transferred for 
a few hundred dollars that are worth millions today. And we have 
here what we did not have there — an abundance of effective labor 
to develop our opportunities. I have spoken well of the character 
of the Mexican miner. The Mexican husbandman is in most re- 
spects his equal. The industrial curse of this country, which once 
stood .steadfastly in the way of its progress and gave it the title of 
the land of manana, was the eternal observance of saints' day. 
Less than twenty years ago, I am informed that there were only 
one hundred and sixty-one days per annum when it was permiss- 
ible for a good Mexican to work. The remaining two hundred 
and four were either Sundays or days of saints of the first class, 
to labor on which meant to invite the certain displeasure of God, 
and probably induce Him to strike the offender dead on the spot. 
Col. Burns described to me an incident in his early experience in 
Mexico, illustrating how completely this idea had taken possess- 
ion of the public mind. He and Mr. Waterhouse had elected to 
work on one of the most notable holy days, and the entire popu- 
lation of San Dimas turned out and watched patiently till sun- 
down, expecting to witness the edifying spectacle of their annihi- 
lation by an outraged diety. The days of the minor saints were 
more numerous than those of the year, and of course it was more 



100 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

religious not to work on those either, although it was not compul- 
sory. Therefore, about all the work you could get out of a Mex- 
ican of the old school was say a hundred days a year at the utmost. 
But that has been broken down long ago. All that remains of the 
prodigious superstition is a strict observance of holy week — the 
last of lent — and a three days' holiday at Christmas. For the rest, 
you can find all the labor you want, and a very good quality 
of it. 



The race that time doth run with swift but silent pace is draw- 
ing my stay in Mexico to a close. Tomorrow, I leave for the sea- 
board, homeward bound, taking with me the memory of six pleas- 
ant weeks spent in the Mexican mountains. I must say that I 
am giving up the free life and returning to what we call civilization 
with rather a heavy heart. I am not much in love with some of 
the conventionalities and restraints with which polite society is 
constantly aiming to circumscribe our actions, without any special 
good reason for it. I have an honest dislike for the vanities, shams, 
pretenses, jealousies, heartburnings and eternal regard for outward 
show that poison life and make good fellowship impossible. I 
prefer a camp fire in the wilderness to quarters in a palace, a hunt- 
ing suit to a swallowtail, a mule to a special car and a fellow in any 
old kind of clothes who will meet me frankly to one of the tailor 
made pinheads who infest the most exclusive circles. Therefore, 
during the last six weeks, I have been entirely in my element, have 
said and done exactly what I pleased and cared never a rap what 
anyone thought of it. It is hard to break ofif from such a delight- 
ful existence all at once, but I suppose in due time I will get back 
in the old groove again. 

R. C. Kirk, the well known Klondiker, blew in on us last week, 
fresh from the northland. The gentleman went to Dawson with 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



101 



the first rush in 1897, made a stake and had the good sense to pull 
out before his nose and ears were frozen off. His book, "Twelve 
Months in Klondike," published by a London firm, is by far the 
best descriptive work on the Klondike that I have seen. Happen- 






Leaving the Mine, Homeward Bound. 

ing to be in San Francisco, he heard that I was in Mexico and de- 
cided that it would be the proper thing to pay me a social call — 
a trifling trip of only 1500 miles. He worked his way from Ma- 
zatlan to the California Mine, through the roughest country on 
earth, without knowing a single word of Spanish, which I con- 
sider somethinp- of a feat. He is full of enthusiasm for this coun- 



102 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

try, as far as he has seen it, and has a mind to settle here if he can 
find a suitable base of operation, which ought not to be difficult 
m a young man of his energy and talents. He and Superinten- 
dent Tompkins will take the long ride with me to Mazatlan, so the 
journey will not be a lonesome one. 

California Mine, State of Durango, Mexico, April 23, 190 1. 



E L E \' E N T H LETTER 




T the interesting- hour of 2 o'clock 
in the morning of yesterday we 
arrived here, after a man-kiUing 
ride of four days. We tried a 
new and unfrequented trail to 
get out of the mountains, with 
the usual results, and paid the 
corresponding penalty in fatigue 
and overwork. Not only that, 
wild hogs wrecked our grub box 
the first night out and we had to live ofif the country as best we 
might. But the virtue of hospitality is one that never fails in 
Mexico, and no matter how tough looking you may be, food and 
shelter are never refused. Nay, they are furnished cheerfully, and 
when you depart the host bids you make yourself at home if you 
pass that way again. It isn't exactly Palace Hotel accommoda- 
tion that you receive, but they give you the best they have, and 
what can man do more ? As often as not, any form of compensa- 
tion is declined. And it never seems to give the women the 
shghtest trouble to do a lot of extra work for strangers. They are 
a hard working, good-natured and fair looking lot, these women 
of Mexico. In my younger days, I should have had more to say 
about them. There are real beauties among them, and a still 
larger number can be classed as "simpatica," a Spanish word the 
nearest English equivalent of which is "attractive" or "pleasing." 
One thing about them that struck me as a clear reversal of female 



104 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



human nature was the entire frankness with which they discussed 
certain matters concerning themselves which a gringo dame 
would rather die than allude to. For instance, when you find an 
American lady who is approaching the shady side of life unat- 
tached, if the subject of marriage is brought up at all. she will tell 




Mazatlan, Looking Seaward. 

you all about the brilliant offers she has received and the swarm 
of lovers she dismissed broken-hearted, because she never met a 
man who came up to her ideals. You may know to the contrary, 
but that is the story you will get. Now, with the Spanish lady it 
is otherwise. I was talking one evening with a senorita, a midget 
of a thing, but so pretty that it made your heart ache to look at 
her, who nevertheless was accumulating years in single blessed- 
ness in a manner highly distasteful. She M-as an orphan and sup- 
ported by the good lady with whom she lived, a condition of 
things that she had been most anxious to terminate by matrimony. 
She spoke about her efforts in that direction almost pathetically. 
"I have done my very best, senor," she said; "I have set my 
cap for every likely young man in the neighborhood and I cer- 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO lO^ 

tainly cannot blame myself for overlooking any opportunity. But 
they will not have me. In the meanwhile I have seen girls whO' 
were anything but 'simpatica,' whose eyes looked in different di- 
rections and had mouths like the gateway of a church, march oK 
with good husbands under my very nose. I cannot imagine what 
is the matter, unless it be that the men will not take me because 
I am so little." "But, amiga," I suggested, the thoughtless fel- 
lows ought to remember that the most valuable things in the 
world are always put up in small parcels." "Granting that to be 
true, senor," she repHed, "in my case the parcel is so very small 
that it is overlooked altogether." Other people may imagine an 
American woman talking that way. I cannot. 

But spinsters are not numerous in Mexico and I doubt not that 
my little friend has' had her wish gratified long ago. The fact is, 
whether a woman is married or not depends upon many things 
beside her looks. We constantly see very handsome women given 
the overlook and pass on, lonesome and neglectd, from youth to 
that terrible uncertain age; while others who just miss being posi- 
tively plain never seem to lack admirers and are able to pick their 
choice. The explanation is not so dii^cult as it seems. In the 
first place, men see women through eyes entirely their own and 
your friend may be able to discover charms in a certain lady 
which you are utterly powerless to detect. But far more import- 
ant still is that instinctive faculty of ingratiating themselves with 
the sterner sex that some women possess and others lack. There 
is no more edifying spectacle than to watch a really capable, alert 
and resolute female at her work, to observe how dextrously she 
finds out a certain gentleman's weakness — just where he is vulner- 
able and just where she must march around his sensitive points 
with that curious art of hers. She knows in a moment exactly 
how far she can go with flattery, without being suspected, exactly 
how much regard may be manifested, without the appearance of 
setting her cap. And when that gentleman goes home, sits in 
his easy chair and thinks how wonderfully that woman under- 
stands him, how she appreciates all his good qualities, how she re- 
spects and admires him — and how much he deserves it — he is pre- 



lOG 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 



■cious near the matrimonial landing net and will be gathered in 
before he knows it. 

Mexican ladies seem to have this gift developed in a high de- 
gree. They are good fellows, like men and tell them so with 
their eyes, if not otherwise. Their talents carry them rather early 
in life to the hymeneal altar, and as above stated, spinsters are 
few and far between. 



M^-''f' 




\, p 



'i(\iij)^« 



' * tl 






rnloaxliug Lighters, Mazatlan. 



We passed a quiet Sunday in Mazatlan yesterday. That is to 
■say, we took in the sights, which included a brief inspection of a 
rooster tournament and attendance at the regular weekly bull 



A GLIMPBE OJ ()Lij MEXICO 



J07 



fight. 'J'hese are national pastimes and the latter partakes of the 
nature of a great social function. Personally, I have no taste for 
either and dislike both as cordially as I detest pugilism at home. 
But when one is a)jroa<l. it is necessary to have experiences to get 
a fair idea of national character — ^and I had them. I came away 
with none of my previous impressions changed, but rather deep- 
ened and the cock-pit and the bull-ring shall see me no more. 




"^tJf-et. Hf^fiTl-h MJd/,i> 



This prejudice on the part of Americans is looked upon by Mex- 
icans as one of the strangest aberrations of the gringo mind. 
They themseh'es have very strong convictions on the subject of 



108 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

prize fighting. They regard it as a brutal and degrading spectacle 
which should be frowned down by all good people; and they will 
argue to any length on the viciousness of the game of football^ 
which risks the lives of promising young men, simply to afford 
amusement to the multitude. But when it comes to a chicken 
fight or a bull fight, that is quite another affair. The simple mis- 
sion of these animals, according to their logic, is to grow up, be 
killed and eaten, which is not very far from the truth, after all. 
That being so, the manner of their taking off is a mere matter of 
detail and if they can contribute to the entertainment of the pub- 
lic in their last moments by displays of courage and steadfast- 
ness, what harm is done? Moreover, if the animal had a choice, 
would it not prefer to perish in combat gloriously, rather than 
basely submit its neck to the ax or its throat to the butcher's 
knife ? I merely give the argument without pasing on its merits. 

The most interesting part of a bull fight are the side lights lead- 
ing up to it. There were eight thousand people in attendance and 
the enthusiasm of the crowd knew no bounds. The entrance of 
popular favorites called forth an uproar. Orators attempted to 
speak and were either howled down or applauded. Then the 
four queens of the fiesta swept in and took their seats in a special 
box, whereat the multitude arose and yelled like demons. After 
that, the fighters and bull number one, were turned loose and the 
entertainment began. But just about as it was getting to the real 
interesting part, my chicken heart got the best of me, and I found 
business elsewhere. So the task of describing a bull fight at Ma- 
zatlan must be left to other hands. 

And with these words, my story comes to a close. I may lin- 
ger here a few days and perhaps return by some zig-zag land 
route, the better to see the country, but I will be in California to 
talk for myself before another letter could arrive. In the forego- 
ing I have purposely avoided the more ambitious themes and have 
only endeavored to show you, in my own way, a few live people 
and some real things. If this has' been accomplished, then I am 
repaid for the expenditure of considerable time and thought; for 
these letters have not slipped from the writer's pen carelessly, 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 109 

but, on the contrary, represent many an hour's hard work, just 
how many it would be embarrassing to admit. But the labor has 
not been burdensome for the subject is one near to my heart and 
later on I may write of it more at length. 






HOME AGAIN 



Hints for Home Use. 



Probably the reader who has traveled with me thus far has 
heard as much of Mexico as he cares to, but there are just one 
or two observations that I wish to make that ought to be of no 
little interest to the American people. 

The United States is today an expanding nation. I do not 
mean in the sense of reaching out for territorial acquisitions for 
that has probably run its course. Our boundaries may be en- 
larged hereafter, but if so, it will be by the voluntary act of those 
who desire to enter our national family. Our people have no de- 
sire to increase their limits by force of arms and the acquisitions 
incident to the late war would never have been tolerated by public 
opinion had not peculiar and unforseen conditions arisen that to a 
certain extent forced the issue on the nation. But ours is an ex- 
panding country in this sense, that it has entirely outgrown the 
mere business of looking after itself. It needs outlets for its 
superabundant products, for the industry and energies of its 
people, and the demand for wider opportunities in this direction 
is sure to increase as the years roll on. No chance should be 
neglected now to establish permanent commercial relations 
wherever a fair field presents itself. 

In letters published during the last two months, the writer has 
endeavored to give an idea of the remarkable progress Mexico 
had made in recent years. Not only that, but the possibilities 
ahead are almost limitless: No one can go through the country 
with one eye half open, without being impressed with the many 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 111 

sided resources bestowed upon it by prodigal nature, most of 
which are still latent, waiting for the hand of modern enterprise 
to quicken them into life. That it has a great future before it, and 
a special interest to our adventurous youths, there can be no man- 
ner of doubt. For in our own country, the best places at the table 
are preempted by close corporations. Whole industrial provinces^ 
such as transportation, the manufacture of iron, sugar, mineral, 
oil and other products, too numerous to mention, are held under 
the domination of single minds. The average young man here, 
with the usual equipment of brains and ambition, has a sorry 
chance to break into this charmed circle. Whereas, in MexicO' 
the field is still open to all comers, just as it was among us half a 
century ago and industry and thrift are sure of a liberal reward. 
There is an opening there for thousands of our aspiring youths, 
who could not only better themselves but also serve as advance 
agents in establishing trade relations with the mother country of 
immense value, as events unfold themselves. 

Of all the leading industrial nations, we have the great advant- 
age of position in dealing with Mexico. Our borders touch along 
fifteen hundred miles. The railway systems of the two countries 
are connected and the principal Mexican ports of entry on the 
Gulf and on the Pacific are almost at our doors. In the feverish 
race of international competition, one would suppose that these 
conditions would easily place us way in the lead commercially with 
our southern neighbors. But such is far from the fact. Ameri- 
cans cut a respectable figure in the mining industry in Mexico, 
and are well represented in the professions. They are also doing 
more or less in certain branches of agriculture and some of our 
capitalists have been extensive railroad builders. But in the im- 
portant domain of commerce, they are hardly a factor at all. In 
that, Europe walks all over us. The single city of Hamburg, I 
am very certain has a far larger volume of trade with Mexico than 
the whole United States put together. The city of Mazatlan, for 
instance, is a most important distributing point for a great extent 
of country. Its imports last year, so the American Consul there 
informed me, exceeded $80,000,000 Mexican money. Here was 
a plum well worth fighting for. Yet less than one per cent, of this 



112 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

total came from the United States. Almost every nation of Eu- 
rope is represented there by one or more large commercial firms. 
We have none, either big or small. And what is true of Mazatlan 
is true of the other considerable cities of Mexico. They swarm 
with German, English, French, Spanish and Italian business 
houses, but an American concern of the kind is so rare that it is 
regarded as a curiosity. It forms a sad commentary on our un- 
readiness to recognize facts of common knowledge. Years ago, 
we were taught to look down on Mexico, because its government 
was unstable and its people unprogressive. We have failed to 
realize, as Europe has, that these conditions have changed entire- 
ly, and that it is now a country with which commercial relations 
should be eagerly sought. The opportunities once to be had for 
the asking are rapidly slipping from our grasp, perhaps forever. 
In my judgment, what has kept us in the background in Mex- 
ico more than any one thing is the fact that knowledge of the 
Spanish language is a very rare accomplishment among us. Prob- 
ably fifty can speak French or German to one familar with the 
Castilian tongue. The independent American will not go where 
he cannot make himself understood, for his good common sense 
tells him how insane it would be to embark in business among a 
people of whose speech he knows nothing. Therefore, he leaves 
Mexico out of his calculations, even if he has some glimmering 
idea that it offers unusual inducements to enterprise. But the 
European man of afi:airs has no such handicap. Those who are 
trained for commercial life are taught the languages of countries 
with which they will probably have dealings, just as much a matter 
of course as instruction is given in reading, writing and arithmetic. 
Not only that, but they also make a special preparatory study of 
trade conditions in foreign lands and trade usuages. This is spec- 
ially true of German commercial men, who are given a finished 
education that puts all other nationalities to the blush. No Ger- 
man who expects to embark in mercantile pursuits is supposed 
to have any business training at all who cannot speak at least three 
or four languages besides his own, and who has not familiarized 
himself thoroughly with the commercial customs of leading na- 
tions. The general mercantile education abroad, in particular, 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 113 

always gives .special attention to the Spanish tongue. In my 
opinion, this is the whole secret of the remarkal)]e success of Ger- 
mans and other Europeans in Spanish America and it also tells 
the tale of American failure. The average young man of the old 
world who follows trade is made of no better material than the 
American. On the contrary, our youngsters are generally more 
resourceful, self-reliant and pushing. But the European lands in 
Mexico with a full knowledge of the language and trade condi- 
tions of the country, while our own unhappy countryman wanders 
around like a cat in a strange garret and is not in the race for a 
minute. If anyone wants to have the national conceit taken out 
of him in good shape, he only needs to see for himself how efTete 
Europe is chasing us off the earth in Spanish speaking America. 

But the remedy is in our own hands. We need only to imitate 
the European system of education to place our people on an even 
footing and then the game should be easilv ours. Just a little travel 
has satisfied the writer how fatally defective the early training is 
that takes no account of modern languages and until our system 
is changed in this respect the American will remain a back number 
in countries where for every reason he ought to be on top. We 
teach a vast amount in our public schools that is valuable only for 
mental discipline and is forgotten promptly as soon as other mat- 
ters engage the scholar's thoughts. Why cannot we include 
something distinctly practical, that is bound to be useful as long 
as the boy or girl lives? There is no reason in the world why 
every pupil who goes through the public school course should not 
master two languages and we respectfully submit that the mental 
drill in acquiring a foreign tongue is quite as valuable as that 
which comes from digging into various abstractions. If one of 
these languages should be Spanish, it would work a transforma- 
tion in our relations not only with Mexico, but with the whole 
continent south of us to Cape Horn. It would give an opening 
to thousands and thousands of enterprisingyoung men who would 
serve as our representatives in clearing the way for the expansion 
that this country imperatively demands. Unless something of 
this sort happens, the United States will lose the biggest prize for 
which commercial nations are contending ; for there can be no 



114 A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 

manner of doubt that the greatest developments of the next half 
century will be in Spanish speaking America. It includes an area 
far greater than all Europe and richer in natural resources. The 
world's progress will not permit it to lie comparatively idle longer 
and when the boom once starts in earnest, it will roll along like 
a tidal wave. Whether the United States shares in it or not, de- 
pends largely on whether we have the good sense to fit our young . 
men to enter the field with some prospect of success; and the 
indispensible condition is that they be given a thorough instruc- 
tion in the Spanish language, during the course of study which 
our public school system provides. 

And when we attempt to do business with our Spanish Amer- 
ican neighbors, we ought at least to make an efTort to meet their 
customs half way, instead of attempting to cram our methods 
down their throats. European commercial men are constantly 
endeavoring to accommodate the trade in every particular while 
with us it is simply a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. A single in- 
stance will illustrate this as well as a thousand. In Mexico, much 
of the traffic is carried on by the tedious process of mule trans- 
portation and for that reason the returns of business are slow. 
On that account, a long credit system prevails, the usual time al- 
lowed a solvent firm being not less than six months. Europ@5.n 
houses have no objection to this, for the prices are all right and 
the security ample. In the- city of Mazatlan, there has been but 
one commercial failure in twenty-five years and that was the case 
of a French firm which was overwhelmed by the collapse of the 
parent concern in Paris. Yet because our rule is a credit of sixty 
or ninety days at the utmost, our merchants, especially those in 
San Francisco, have turned the cold shoulder to no end of the 
finest kind of business when it was knocking at our very doors. If 
we persist in this absurd conservatism, we have only ourselves to 
blame if we continue to ^stand at the tail of the procession, when 
we ought to be at its head. 

The writer only wishes that he could make this as clear to oth- 
ers as it is to himself. The lesson that anyone must read who 
travels through Mexico intelligently is so very plain that there is' 
no mistaking it. We are simply going to be frozen out of Spanish 



A GLIMPSE OF OLD MEXICO 115 

America altogether commercially by our European brethren, un- 
less we adopt the methods that have secured them supremacy. 
The proposition is so distinct and clear cut that it seems as if the 
force of it ought to be realized by those to whom it is directly ad- 
dressed. If not, a later generation of Americans may have ample 
cause to lament the short-sightedness of their sires. 



THE END. 



IAN. HO W02 



\ COPY DEL 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




017 505 173 9 



